a few Eastport questions (Lubec, Cooper: buy, restaurant, prices)

[woxyroxme]

Originally Posted by retiredtinbender

always going to be The Cannery to me.

Same here, those were the good old days.

[maine4.us]

Yes, and I can't even get them to fix the road to my house. I dished out over $1500 for car tags the last two years, and I can't get them to fix the drainage on the city street. Now that is sad!

[retiredtinbender]

Originally Posted by maine4.us

Yes, and I can't even get them to fix the road to my house. I dished out over $1500 for car tags the last two years, and I can't get them to fix the drainage on the city street. Now that is sad!

That 1500 got you the Manager and head of PW though didn't it? How long did you have to wait after you called?

[maine4.us]

The 2nd email where I stated it was going on to the 3rd year, and I got some action. That is basically all I wanted. The first email hinted that there was no money in the budget, when I reminded them, nicely that it isn't the first budget year but rather the second year since I contacted them the first time.

They came after I sent the 2nd email, the first reply didn't convince me that something was going to be done.

I was nice, and it was not a nasty email....after all you catch more flies with sugar than vinegar. Since I have been in charge of that same department in another town, I knew the solution wasn't difficult, I just needed a commitment that something was going to be done.

Got that this morning, about the time you posted... Hopefully, end of story!

[maineblueberries]

Originally Posted by mensaguy

We drove by and looked at that house last week. I think you could save some money on the heating bill by tossing $100 bills into the fireplace. That's a big house that needs a huge amount of work.

yes, seeing that house up close and personal, it looks like it'd be a real money pit to fix up and maintain, and the heating bills would probably be a nightmare!

[maine4.us]

A note about Eastport Cell Service.... I have found a way to get decent reasonably priced service. Get a Verizon phone, on the internet (just bought a new one for ($64), and then get a tracfone ($9.95 Walmart) and activate it. Don't use the tracfone, but call Verizon, and port the LOCAL tracfone number to Verizon. Are you confused yet? If you want a local cell number, for the wired folks to avoid LD), you have to do this. Otherwise just call Verizon and they will give you an Ellsworth cell number.

After you tell Verizon that you already have a phone, and a number, they will activate your phone for you. Now be sure and ask for the US/Canada package - relatively new package. Now you have a phone that works on US cellular, and Bell Aliant in Canada, with no roaming fees. That's right, the minutes you have are good in Canada and the US. I have had this setup, and rarely do I miss a call. Bell Aliant (Canada) has much better coverage in the Eastport area (except for the IGA parking log, and a few strange places) than US Cellular does. My last bill showed about 85% of my usage out of Canada.

Note: If you are a prolific texter or photo sender, this plan most likely is NOT for you. You pay per text/photo. It is, however, much cheaper to receive a text than to send one. So I tell people to text me, and I call them.

It took me 5 years to figure this out, maybe I am just slow, but now I have 4 bars sitting in my home, and I can make and receive calls on Water Street. I wondered for several years how people could use their phones on Water St. and I didn't have service.....well, it's the Canadians who have decent service in Eastport.

[mrs1885]

Originally Posted by maineblueberries

yes, seeing that house up close and personal, it looks like it'd be a real money pit to fix up and maintain, and the heating bills would probably be a nightmare!

I know. It's a dream. I adore that house. Maybe I'll win the lottery! I think it would be an adorable B&B (please don't shoot me for the thought!) but also have plenty room for family and friends to visit. I'd love to do a two zone heat / air system and just use the small part that looks like a later addition to live in during the winter and then open the rest of the house up the rest of the year. In all honesty, it'll never work out I'm sure, but I still dream.

Originally Posted by maine4.us

A note about Eastport Cell Service.... I have found a way to get decent reasonably priced service. Get a Verizon phone, on the internet (just bought a new one for ($64), and then get a tracfone ($9.95 Walmart) and activate it. Don't use the tracfone, but call Verizon, and port the LOCAL tracfone number to Verizon. Are you confused yet? If you want a local cell number, for the wired folks to avoid LD), you have to do this. Otherwise just call Verizon and they will give you an Ellsworth cell number.

After you tell Verizon that you already have a phone, and a number, they will activate your phone for you. Now be sure and ask for the US/Canada package - relatively new package. Now you have a phone that works on US cellular, and Bell Aliant in Canada, with no roaming fees. That's right, the minutes you have are good in Canada and the US. I have had this setup, and rarely do I miss a call. Bell Aliant (Canada) has much better coverage in the Eastport area (except for the IGA parking log, and a few strange places) than US Cellular does. My last bill showed about 85% of my usage out of Canada.

Note: If you are a prolific texter or photo sender, this plan most likely is NOT for you. You pay per text/photo. It is, however, much cheaper to receive a text than to send one. So I tell people to text me, and I call them.

It took me 5 years to figure this out, maybe I am just slow, but now I have 4 bars sitting in my home, and I can make and receive calls on Water Street. I wondered for several years how people could use their phones on Water St. and I didn't have service.....well, it's the Canadians who have decent service in Eastport.

Slow? That's actually brilliant! Wouldn't work for me since my children don't seem to understand that you can actually make phone calls on cell phones, but............... I really think at this point we'll go without a cell. I'm not working anymore, so we're probably going to drop down to one cell next month. No sense in having two when we're always together.

[mrs1885]

Originally Posted by maine4.us

Before you make the move to Eastport, I certainly would love to tell you about it. First of all, we moved here over 2 years ago, and there are no regrets. But, I need to make sure that any of you moving here who plan on living on a fixed income are aware of the following things.

1) cost of water, sewer, and electric are high, much higher than the national average, especially electricity
2) property taxes are high, repeat high, the taxes on our home are averaging almost a 10% increase each year. Assessments are fair, but the millage rate required is excessive.
3) Car tags are somewhat expensive, a new car is over $600 per year for the first few years, (city excise tax)
4) the cost of living for certain things is fairly high, some things cheaper, but overall, be prepared for increased costs
5) if you have a retirement income over $10K per year, you will pay income taxes on it. Rates are as high as 8.5%, in addition to the IRS
6) heating, well, hey, we are in Maine, enough said.

The list above is, well non-negotiable, you generally can't cut corners on most of those items. We are land rich and job poor. Do I regret moving here, no way! The economic issue is something you certainly should think about if you on a fixed income. Jobs are not as hard to come by as some people say, but the wages are not equal to the rest of the country.

As someone once told me, come on up, and be poor with the rest of us.

Don't know how in the world I missed this the first time around, but wanted to say this is a VERY helpful post! I had no clue the tags on vehicles was so high!!! I thought $150ish in Florida was high!! It's an expense I knew we'd have but had no clue it would be that much!!!

Is disability considered retirement income? Ideally, we'll pay cash for a house and use hubby's check to cover expenses. Wondering if they'll be taxing that. Although it seems when I file our taxes each year it shows we did pay taxes? Then again, that's IRS not state, which will also be new for me. I've never lived in a state with state taxes before!

Knew property taxes would be high compared to here. Everyone talks about high rates in the northeast. And in TN I think we have one of the cheapest areas. Ours is a smidge over $600 a year for a five bedroom 2500+ square foot brick house on nearly 10 acres. VERY cheap taxes. Of course, we have no services either.

Will definitely have to kick around numbers a bit more than expected before we even think of making offers!

[mainebrokerman]

what was going on at Rays mustard today??

had a couple kids out front with signs??

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Must be one of the owners is runnin' for sumthin'.