New Deputy Fire Chief named

Mark Scribner was announced as the new Deputy Fire Chief for Naples.

Scribner, who takes the position vacated by Andy Burnham, starts the job next week.

Revising a pay-per-call policy is one of the initial tasks Scribner will be working on — along with Naples Fire Chief Chris Pond and Town Manager Ephrem Paraschak.

“We want to work on revising an existing policy. The volunteers are paid per call,” Paraschak said.

“During a hurricane, it isn’t uncommon for a volunteer to walk away with a very large paycheck for one shift’s work,” he said.

This fire department policy is one that the Naples Board of Selectmen had asked Paraschak to consider changing.

Webpage wow and online registration

Before new Town Manager Ephrem Paraschak stepped into his job on July 1, he told the Naples Board of Selectmen that he planned to improve the town’s webpage.

A few changes have been made, but there are more to come to take the webpage to the wow level.

“We’re not even remotely done with the website. We just added a few things here and there,” Paraschak said.

He said he will be working with a professional website company to slot in photos that truly represent the town and make getting to information easier for the public.

Meanwhile, the Parks and Recreation Department has established a new online registration for youth sports.

“That is something that (Recreation Director) Harvey (Price) asked if he could try. He has a system in place, and used it in New Gloucester,” Paraschak said.

“The online thing is working. This fall, football is the first program. After that, we are hoping to do all programs online,” he said.

“It saves the public time, and it saves the town’s administrative department time because there is not as much paper shuffling,” he said.

Keeping selectmen in loop with events

As part of the recently amended street vendor ordinance, all town-sponsored events go before the Naples Board of Selectmen for approval.

However, events that are not put on by nonprofits or backed by the town sometimes go before the Naples Planning Board to approve logistics on the Causeway.

Earlier this month, a few activities that drew people in addition to the normal weekend traffic caused a little chaos. One weekend, vehicles were parked on the Bay of Naples Bridge, which is illegal as well as being marked as a no-parking zone. Another time, the backup took place closer to the town dock on the Causeway.

Some local residents made their complaints to the Naples Board of Selectmen. However, it was the planning board that was more intimate with the details.

Selectman Rick Paraschak suggested that the planning board forward to selectmen sketches for the layout of events so they can explain things when the public comments.

“I don’t want to get involved. I just want to know. Just knowing the event is going to take place (is good) so when people call me, I know what to say,” he said.

Clearing trees from local roadsides

On his way to the Naples Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, Town Manager Ephrem Paraschak found himself behind a vehicle, watching the results of a problem around town.

“I saw a logging truck going down Wiley Road tonight. Gosh, it hit every tree branch along the way,” he said.

“We are really behind on tree trimming. I’d like to reach out to a local contractor to catch up on the tree trimming,” he said.

Selectman Dana Watson asked about the machine used to trim trees in Casco.

Paraschak said he thought the roads that machine was used on were wider than those back roads in Naples that needed tree branches trimmed back. However, he said he planned to ask Casco Town Manager Dave Morton about it and see if he had any recommendations.