Tentative 2009-10 Island Fellow Placements Available

Frenchboro
The Town of Frenchboro is requesting a Fellow to serve as an administrative assistant for the board of selectmen. The compelling community need is the difficulty in finding sufficient people with appropriate skills to meet the ever-growing requirements from the state and federal government in managing town business.  The Fellow will assist with the following projects: establish a town recycling program and coordinate these efforts with school initiatives whenever possible; develop a family composting system; collaborate in exploring long-term strategies for solid waste handling; assist with the community gardening program in collaboration with the school; facilitate the required on-line training of fire fighters and emergency responders; collaborate with the board of selectmen in fostering the town relationship with the Acadia Disposal District; collaborate with the board of selectmen in developing a comprehensive plan. The Fellow will also assist with grant-writing for a town energy audit, and a DOT grant to replace and increase the strength of the town wharf deck.

Isle au Haut
At this time, the Isle au Haut Comprehensive Plan Committee is at the inventory and assessment stage of the comprehensive planning process. The Fellow will work with the CPC to build/organize the town's informational data base using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology. Building the data base will involve gathering and filtering information from the state and Acadia National Park, and conducting on-the-ground resource assessments. Priority topic areas for local information gathering include the condition of the island's housing stock, critical natural resources, and working waterfront land use.  As assessments are completed, the Fellow will present findings to the committee, and aid the committee in public outreach. Outreach duties will include editing the CPC newsletter, and posting comprehensive planning updates on the town website. To ensure the system of knowledge management created by the Fellow is sustained, the Fellow will also work with community/committee members to build their technological understanding and abilities as it applies to town planning. As townspeople become more familiar with GIS, the Fellow might help them leverage funding for equipment. Additional projects might include research into affordable housing policy, alternative energy possibilities, and economic development models.

Vinalhaven
The Fellow will be working with the board of directors and staff for Island Village Childcare (IVC), a non-profit, full-time, year-round childcare center, which provides affordable childcare to island residents. The Fellow will assist staff in implementing a play-focused, family-oriented program using Creative Curriculum, published my Teaching Strategies, Inc. The Fellow will work with the board and staff to identify areas in the program that staff need professional development and training. The Fellow will coordinate and plan the training. The Fellow will research and develop a professional development plan for the board of directors.

One of the goals of the program is to increase he presence of community volunteers in the center. The Fellow will coordinate and train community volunteers to assist in programming. The goal is develop a volunteer base that will provide regular volunteer support staff as well as hosting special events for the children in the center.

It is hoped that the Fellow will assist with creating innovative communications, public relations, publicity and outreach programs using traditional means on the island (The Wind, Working Waterfront), as well as more modern technological means, like creating a website.

Chebeague Island
The Town of Chebeague Island and the Chebeague Island Historical Society have submitted a joint application. The Town work will consist of copying and cataloging town records, including helping to create an electronic retrieval system that would make the records accessible to the public. The town needs to have road and paper street research completed and organized. This will entail spending time at the Registry of Deeds and creating data bases of information on which public policy will be based. The paper street project has resulted in the preservation of numerous coastal access points and Chebeague hopes to preserve even more with additional research.

The Fellow could also help review some of the setback requirements by inventorying existing parcels to determine the possible need for changes. The Fellow may also assist the Comprehensive Plan Committee as it finishes the plan for next winter.

The Fellow will assist the Chebeague Island Historical Society with the creation of the 2010 exhibit. The Fellow will collaborate with committee members to research and identify articles from the collection to support the exhibit. The Fellow will work with the Collection Committee to catalogue and photograph recent acquisitions. The Fellow will help catalogue Chebeague Island Postcards. This will involve scanning and publishing in the form of a DVD or a Book.

The Fellow will help the Society to apply for a Maine Humanities Infrastructure grant to provide additional exhibit furniture and audio visual equipment to make exhibits more multi-dimensional.

The Fellow will also assist with the Maine Island Historical Society Conference, researching various aspects of the potential conference and conducting a feasibility study.