The Town Council has appointed a Comprehensive Plan Committee to prepare an update of the plan over the next 18 months.  The committee's organizing meeting will be at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 3, in the Town Council Chambers.

The update will cover all aspects of the Comprehensive Plan except for the portion of the plan dealing with the Forestry and Agriculture, the Low Density Residential, and Stillwater Ave. Overlay land use districts, all of which were updated in the 2009 amendments to the...

Published Apr 26

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The Kelley Road Business Park Advisory Committee Tuesday night recommended that an application for the proposed site plan for the business park be submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection for a site location permit.

The target date for submission is April 13.  Before then, the Town will host a public information meeting to answer questions about the permit application.  The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 5, 7 p.m., in the Municipal Building's Council chambers.  A...

Published Mar 20

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Shaw & Tenney of Orono, makers of the world's finest wooden oars and paddles, has been selected by L.L. Bean to help it celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Shaw & Tenney is teaming with West Branch Heritage Timber of Millinocket, which harvests centuries-old logs that lie at the bottom of Quakish Lake in the north woods, to produce the paddles.  Some of the wood dates back to the 16th Century.

Shaw & Tenney, located on Mill Street, has been handcrafting wooden oars and paddles since 1858.  Its...

Published Jan 6

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The Kelley Road Business Park Advisory Committee will host a public meeting Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 7 pm, at the Municipal Building to review the conceptual plan for the business park.  The full public is invited.

The park will be located on 30 acres behind the offices of the Katahdin Council of the Boy Scouts at Exit 191.  The Committee will review what it heard from area residents and property owners last summer concerning possible off-site effects and how it has addressed those. And...

Published Jan 6

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(This is the second in a series of occasional snippets from the 2010 Census profiling the Town of Orono.  This snippet covers households and housing units.)

While Orono’s population grew by 13.7% between 2000 and 2010, the increase in population living in households – rather than in dormitories or nursing homes – was a bit less at 8.3%.  The number of households themselves increased by 5.2%, to 2,831.

The changing complexion of Orono is reflected in the changing make-up of...

Published Oct 5

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(This is one in a series of occasional snippets from the 2010 Census profiling the Town of Orono.)

Orono’s population grew by more than 13% between 2000 and 2010 – from 9,112 to 10,362.  That’s an increase of 1,250 souls.  That looks like robust growth – and it is – but the growth was concentrated in three age groups:

15-to-24 year olds – college-aged students – increased by 1,362, or 23% 55-to-64 year olds – the “baby boomers” now in their empty-nester, pre-retiree...

Published Sep 26

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The Black Bear Orono Express -- the shuttle bus between Downtown Orono and campus -- completed its second year of operations with ridership of 41,080, an increase of 4.4% over its inaugural year.

The shuttle runs during the University's academic year, from the end of August to the middle of May.  It was jointly funded this year by the University of Maine, Town of Orono, Maine DOT, and Orchard Trails Apartments. 

The shuttle is available to all members of the public. It runs on the half...

Published Jul 27

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The Town has awarded a bid for the Phase II clean-up of the Webster Mill site to Gary M. Pomeroy Logging, Inc., of Hermon.  The cost of the project will be $172,470, which will be funded through grants from the EPA and Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.  

This phase of the clean-up focuses on the riverbanks of the Penobscot River and Stillwater Branch. The clean-up involves placing rip-rap over geotextile fabric on the riverbanks to both cover contaminated soil and...

Published Jul 20

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The Kelley Road Business Park Advisory Committee has scheduled three public meetings. The Advisory Committee is in the earliest stages of planning for the business park, and the meetings will give members of the public a chance to discuss opportunities and voice concerns about a possible business park.  The proposed business park would be located on about 30 acres behind the offices of the Katahdin Council of the Boy Scouts, near Exit 191 of I-95.

The meetings will be held in the Town...

Published Jun 10

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Want to zoom in to get information on parcels in your neighborhood?  See how your property is zoned?  See how many houselots are within 1000 feet of you?  Get an idea of where the flood plain is?

 A new web-based map viewer for Orono is now on-line at http://webmap.jws.com/orono/.  You can also link to it through the Town’s home page: click on the tab “Resources,” then on GIS map viewer. 

Built and hosted by Sewall Co., the map viewer allows you to zoom in on an individual parcel...

Published Feb 18

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