Canton Selectman Carole Robbins holds the recently restored book of town vital records during Thursday’s selectmen meeting at the Town Office. Chairman Russell Adams is at right. Selectmen Brian Keene and Kristi Carrier also attended; Scotty Kilbreth was absent. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times
CANTON — Selectman Carole Robbins presented board members Thursday with the “professionally restored, cleaned, rebound and digitized” book of vital records for the years 1821 to 1839.
It holds the records starting the year the town was incorporated.
Selectman Brian Keene said the vital records books were missing for many years but were found, probably in 2016. Selectman Scotty Kilbreth and Kathy Walker, who both worked in the office at that time, spotted the books in a double-sided bookcase while moving the office to the current location on Turner Street.
Selectmen presented a slideshow of the conservation process done by Northeast Document Conservation Center in Augusta. It included washing and mending the original pages, followed by digitizing them. The original binding has also been returned to the town to be kept for its historical value.
In other business, Robert Walker, emergency management director, asked selectmen if there were any road construction projects that should be added to the town’s hazard mitigation plan list, which the state requires be updated next year.
“There’s a couple of survey questions on a survey that I have to fill in,” he said. “And one of them is: Have we had any flooding that has occurred since 2016?”
Selectmen couldn’t remember any major damage to roads except “a couple of washouts” on some roads, Keene said.
“So, if there’s any projects that you can think of within the next three to four months that we need to add to our list, let me know so that we can get it added in,” Walker said.
The hazard mitigation plan for Oxford County’s 2017 update lists Canton’s Campbell and Farrand Hill roads in need of repairs, along with a plan to develop an access road to Pinnacle Health and Rehab on Pleasant Street.
In another matter, the board voted to spend up to $3,500 from the town’s allotment from the American Rescue Plan Act to pay for a new sump pump for the sewer department building on Bixby Road.
Chairman Russell Adams is to her right. Selectmen Brian Keene and Kristi Carrier were also in attendance while Selectman Scotty Kilbreth was absent. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times
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