DEAR SUN SPOTS: Thank you for your very interesting and informative column. It is a great service to the community. Does the City of Auburn have any plans to repair the horrendous condition of the northern end of Park Avenue.
The southern end has been redone and is fine. Park Avenue is a well-traveled street, not only for residents but also for through traffic, as well as for those who attend one of the two churches located on the street and the Lutheran Church on nearby Summer Street. — C.M., Greene.
ANSWER: Park Avenue travelers, Sun Spots has good and bad news for you. The good news is, Park Avenue is, in fact, scheduled for repair this 2016 construction season. That’s also the bad news. Park Avenue happens to fall under the purview of the Maine Department of Transportation, rather than the City of Auburn, for road rehabilitation.
MDOT’s 2016 construction schedule includes a reconstruction of Park Avenue “beginning at Summer Street and extending southerly 1.09 miles to Lake Street.” The project is much more in depth than your typical mill-and-fill paving project and will cost $3,825,000 to reconstruct the road from the base soils layer up.
When it’s complete, the road should be a nice, smooth ride for commuters. If you’re currently traveling the road daily, however, you may want to consider finding alternative routes now in preparation for the big construction project that will begin later this summer.
DEAR SUN SPOTS: For the reader inquiring about testing scallops, we perform DNA barcoding for seafood species identification and are ISO 17025 credited for DNA Barcoding.
We routinely test scallops for the industry as well as regulatory agencies. The cost is $180 per sample test. We don’t do a lot of testing for consumers because of the cost of testing and chain-of-custody issues.
I recommend you tell your readers who are interested in identifying their scallops to contact the Maine Department of Agriculture or other branch of government that deals with retail fraud issues.
We do perform species ID testing for several state agencies, and that tends to be the best way to address consumer concerns. You can obtain more information about Applied Food Technologies and our species ID testing from our web site at www.appliedfoodtechnologies.com.
Please contact me at 386-418-3661 if you need additional information. Thank you. — LeeAnn Applewhite, Applied Food Technologies, Inc., Alachua, Fla.
DEAR SUN SPOTS: For the reader planning a craft beer weekend, this is a great place for Maine folks looking for all the latest in beer information http://www.beerthisweek.com. — Karl, Auburn.
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