FARMINGDALE — Chief Constable Jeff Ellis told selectmen Wednesday he’s retiring from his post effective July 27.
Ellis, who has served the town as constable and animal control officer for 18 years, said that he’s stepping down to spend more time with his family.
The constable investigates citizen complaints in Farmingdale and provides security at public events, as well as animal control duties.
“You’ve been professional the entire way through,” Board of Selectmen Chairman David Sirois said, expressing regret in Ellis’s departure.
Ellis told selectmen he wanted to give a month’s notice to allow the board time to seek a replacement and offer ideas about the position for a future candidate. Selectmen plan to set a date to sit down and talk with him.
Ellis is the second employee the town has lost this year. Edward “Skip” Rowe Jr. resigned his post as road commissioner earlier this year.
William Rogers now has that job. In other business:
* Selectman Rickey McKenna told the board that FirstPark in Oakland has sent the town a check for $7,264. Farmingdale is one of several central Maine communities to pledge financial support for the park, which was built more than 10 years ago to house new technology-based industries.
* Chairman David Sirois told the board he attended a meeting of a Kennebec Valley Council of Governments steering committee to discuss the status of the Kennebec Valley Gas Company’s plan to install a natural gas line that would run from Richmond to Skowhegan.
Sirois said Kennebec Valley Gas Co. has yet to strike a deal with Sappi Paper in Skowhegan, which is a potential big user that the company would need to move forward with the project.
* The town received payments from the Maine Department of Transportation for land the department took under eminent domain to complete the reconstruction of Maine Avenue. The town received two separate checks for $250 for the use of town property during the construction phase, and a check for $1,700 for a strip of land the state took from the edge of a cemetery on Maine Avenue to build a sidewalk.
* Selectmen voted to accept Margaret Wallace as a Planning Board member and Tim Leet as an alternate.
* Sirois told the board that an employee from DNK Motors attended the Planning Board meeting on June 28 and inquired about developing a sign ordinance.
* The board voted to reimburse Gary Hamilton and Georgette Clark for money they paid for administrative fees for sewer lines the town had abandoned recently.
The line was installed in 2005 at a cost of $63,000. It was never used, because the three accounts did not purchase a commercially available pump and holding tank to connect to it.
Selectmen opted to discuss the possibility of refunding the third account later.
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