From a decades-long member of one committee to a newer resident who has served since shortly after her arrival in town, several Wiscasset committee members have applied for new terms. Selectmen are set to consider the re-appointments Tuesday, Feb. 7.

Jacqueline Lowell states on her application for another three years on the planning board, she has served on that panel 20 years; she has also long served on the ordinance review committee. In a phone interview Feb. 3, Lowell said committee work is interesting, she likes serving the town and learning about new businesses and solar and other projects that come Wiscasset’s way.

Terry Heller, now a selectman, came to Maine from Texas and bought a home in Wiscasset in 2017. She joined Garden Club of Wiscasset and Friends of Wiscasset Village (now Friends of Wiscasset), then joined her first town committee, the one she seeks reappointment to: Appearance of the Town. The committee is caretaker of the Sunken Garden, “which I’m passionate about,” Heller said in text replies Feb. 3.

“We just got the interior granite block wall rebuilt in October, so I’m anxious to see what comes back on that side of the garden and to find another climbing hydrangea for that wall,” Heller wrote. “And we started researching the original plantings in the garden and discovered that there was a ‘moonlight garden’ possibly during the 1920s. I can hardly wait to figure out how we could recreate some of that and also do a fundraiser to raise the brick paths that are covered with mud after every rain. I’m asking for reappointment because we have a lot to get done!”

Heller called Wiscasset a special community. She likes working with others to help keep it that way. “Everywhere you turn, there is a volunteer opportunity and people lining up to help. I cannot imagine a more wonderful place to live and be of service to people who are so willing to help others.”

Committees are an effective way to involve citizens in local government’s decision-making process, Town Manager Dennis Simmons said Feb. 6 in response to email questions.

“Often committee members bring a unique skill or talent, a new perspective and a strong interest in the subject matter the committee may be tasked with.” Simmons called the broadband committee an excellent example: “It attracted a number of people with diverse backgrounds, did a great deal of research and analysis to make a recommendation as to several paths to achieving an important goal, ensuring broadband access to all residents of the town. It would be a very difficult task for the select board to have done all of the work on their own. That type of work tends to be very time-consuming and finding members of the public that have the time to dedicate to serving on a committee can be difficult. I think those that do (serve) can find the work rewarding, especially when they have a positive effect on the town.”

Also Feb. 7, selectmen are set to take up liquor license requests from Bath Ale Works, 681 Bath Road, and Wiscasset Farmers Market, 51 Bath Road; Simmons’ request for a vacation from Feb. 23 to March 2; and executive, or closed door, sessions on labor talks and a legal matter.

The meeting is at 6 p.m. at the town office and over Zoom. To join via Zoom:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89949074298?pwd=UllSQTRtd1RqQ1YvSEV5T0l6UWNsQT09

Meeting ID: 899 4907 4298 Passcode: 083446

https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kduhVcebfc