The Conservation Commission, consisting of five voting members with staggered three-year terms and two alternates (appointed annually), has a mission to "work to preserve and manage the natural resources in the Town of Lincolnville and to promote good conservation practices."

The Conservation Commission typically meets monthly on the second Thursday of the month at 4PM at the Lincolnville Town Office.  Please check the Municipal Calendar to verify meeting date, time, and location.

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Lincolnville's Solar Array

At the February 8, 2016 meeting, the Board of Selectmen agreed to allow the Energy Team to gather information on electrical uses and to conduct a preliminary survey of possible locations on town-owned property on which to build a solar array. The data to be collected was necessary to address the many technical and economic issues identified by the Energy Team as they investigated potential cost saving for the town.

At the June 27^th Board of Selectmen’s meeting, the Energy Team presented the results of their research that included a detailed audit of the Town’s energy requirements.  It was also noted that the fire station appeared to be the most suitable town owned property for the location of the solar array. Preliminary discussions with then Fire Chief Ben Hazen were positive.  The Board then unanimously voted to issue a request for proposals for the installation of a solar panel array together with a power purchase agreement with the goal of complete installation by the end of the year.

Three proposals were submitted to the Town and on September 26, the Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to call a Special Town Meeting for October 11^th at the Town Office.  The purpose of the Special Town Meeting was to allow the citizenry to approve the use of town land at the fire station for ReVision Energy to install a 140 panel, 43.4 KW  solar electrical generating system that would meet approximately 90 percent of the Town’s electricity requirements.

At the Special Town Meeting, an overflow crowd required that the meeting be moved to the gymnasium of the Lincolnville Center School.  By unanimous vote, ReVision Energy was granted a license to install the solar array on town-owned land next to the fire station.

By mid-November, the installation was in full progress and the project was commissioned on December 30, 2016 and the solar array was locally generating clean, renewable power for the Town of Lincolnville. Over the lifetime of the solar array, it is projected that the Town will realize substantial savings in its energy costs.  Additional benefits to producing our electricity locally include supporting Maine businesses as well as creating jobs in Waldo County. Over the life of the array it is estimated that the power produced by the solar array will avoid air pollutants associated with power plant electricity generation, including a projected 1.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide.  These benefits contribute to the health and well-being of our Lincolnville environment, our community and our world.