Monthly meeting

The monthly meeting of DRDC/Dexter Community Farm Project is tomorrow night, Tuesday, May 1st.

We will begin at 6:30 PM at the Fossa Store with a little clean up of trash that was left over from working upstairs. Roger is bring his pickup to load the trash in.

The shortened meeting will follow with an overview of the new Engineer Drawings that Plymouth Engineering produced and of the walk thru by the contractors last Wednesday of the "wall". 

I will also go thru the rest of the renovation schedule.
Anyone interested is invited to come and to participate.
Cya then!

Contractors: Invitation to Bid

INVITATION TO BID

Project: Fossa Building Renovation

Owner: Dexter Regional Development Corporation
122 Number 10 Road
Dexter, ME 04930

Architect/Engineer: Plymouth Engineering, Inc.
P.O. Box 46, 30 Lower Detroit Road
Plymouth, Maine 04969
Date: April 20, 2012


Bidders are invited to submit a Bid to the Owner for Fossa Building Renovation at 4 Main Street, Dexter, Maine. The Owner will receive Bids until 2:00 PM local prevailing time on May 4, 2012, for the following project: Description: Work site is an existing, ongoing project. This project is funded with CDBG. The task for the project is to move the existing unfinished wall off the neighboring building. Install exterior metal wall panel over moved wall and existing wall. Cut roof back and install new edge condition on roof and spray foam the designated area with 4” of foam.

The Owner requires the Project to be completed by June 15, 2012. Bidding Documents for a Stipulated Price contract may be obtained directly from Plymouth Engineering Inc. for a fee of $30.00.

General Contractors may opt to secure additional plans electronically from Plymouth Engineering’s website. The website password will only be issued to general contractors by Plymouth Engineering to ensure a complete list of bidders. Documents can only be obtained by general contract and subcontract Bidders. Only full sets will be issued. Others may view the Bid Documents at the office of the Architect/Engineer.

 A pre-bid meeting will be held at the site on April 25, 2012 at 9:00 AM. Refer to other bidding requirements described in Document 00200 - Instructions to Bidders and Document 00300 – Additional Information Submit your Bid on the Bid Form provided.

Bidders may supplement this form as appropriate. Your Bid will be required to be submitted under a condition of irrevocability for a period of 60 days after submission. The Owner reserves the right to accept or reject any or all Bids.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Seedling workshop

Start Your Own Plants from Seed is the latest program in the You Can series. It will be held Thursday, April 26th from 10:00 am- 12:00 pm at Charlotte White Center, 572 Bangor Road, Dover-Foxcroft. 

Cost is $5 and you can register through PVAEC by calling 564-6525 or online athttp://bit.ly/pyoucan. 

What’s the best way to start seeds? High seedling mortalities and leggy, unhealthy plants that never perform well when moved to the garden are some of the common problems that will be discussed. 

Learn the best gardening practices for starting plants in the home. You’ll bring home a newly planted seed that you started in class. Patricia Jones and Amanda Costello are graduates in the Master Gardeners program through UMaine Extension.

April Monthly Meeting

DRDC/Dexter Community Farm Project monthly meeting is going to be held an hour early this month. It is tomorrow, Tuesday, April 3rd, 6 PM at the Fossa General Store.

We want to share the work completed upstairs and also go over what our engineer has planned for the leaky wall, etc.

We will keep the meeting short, but dress accordingly! Remember there is no heat currently :)

Questions? Feel free to contact us at judy@DexterFarmProject.com or call.
See you tomorrow night!

Maine Senior FarmShare Program

Through the Maine Senior FarmShare Program, Maine farmers provide fresh, unprocessed, locally grown produce to low-income seniors. Food is distributed directly from farms to seniors. Each participating senior receives a share worth $50 of produce during the growing season.


Farms are prepaid in the spring for the produce they agree to provide later in the season. Only fresh, unprocessed vegetables, fruits and herbs from the farmer are acceptable FarmShare products.


To qualify, seniors must meet both age and income requirements. They must be age 60 or over (age 55 or over for Native Americans), and have a total income (including all pensions, social security and other payments) of no more than 185% of the poverty level. Participating seniors must sign an agreement with a specific farmer to provide their share.

The Maine Senior FarmShare Program is administered by the Maine Department of Agriculture (DOA) in partnership with other agencies and organizations, including the Office of Elder Services, the Maine Nutrition Network, Maine Cooperative Extension, and Maine's five Area Agencies on Aging. The Program is funded through the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP).

For more information on program guidelines and participating farmers call Area Agencies on Aging at 1-877-353-3771 or visit www.getrealmaine.com.

Quickbooks Class

I am a big Quickbooks fan and have used it for years in my own business but working on the books for a Non-Profit and creating a "complete picture" profile is another story.

Fred Donovan and I had a 3 hour Quickbooks lesson today from Cheryl Hajek who is an accountant and Quickbooks Certified teacher. 


I had all the entries in Quickbooks for past 3 years for 2 different bank accounts, but I didn't know what accounts to assign the proper accounts.
What I mean by that is tracking the 1st floor from the 2nd floor entries, tracking volunteer hours that can be used for grants matches, listing donated products & from whom, tracking the various CDBG & USDA Grants, etc.

But then there is the whole thing of the difference between a fixed asset and just an expense.
 Cheryl helped create and put everything in the proper account!
Wow... it was fun and I learned a lot!  Now we can see the whole picture of our physical and monetary value.


Everything is up to date and in good order! YEAH! 

Friday update

Well our last day with the Charleston crew for awhile. They are off to other nonprofits to help in other communities. 
They are a great bunch of guys and supervisor who I have gotten to know and like. It has been a great experience working with them. They have made it very clear that they are really appreciate being out of the facility during the day, but more that, they are giving back to the community! Some of our guys will have completed their time soon and they are anxious to come back (with their kids) when are open and show off their handiwork!
I applaud Charleston Correctional Facility for providing this service to our community and the inmates for wanting a change in their lives.
The floor is completely done on the 2nd floor and they were trying to finish up the wall around the office today. When I left about 1:30 today, they were about 2/3 done.
Once again I want to thank Rich Frank for bringing donuts & a homecooked meals everyday this week for the guys, Kay Gray for her whoppie pies, Sam Brown for all the flooring, Ernest Rollins for the hemlock boards for the wall, Darlene Bagley for all the coffee beans (they love their coffee in an unheated building). 
I also want to thank Roger Brawn who is President of DRDC. He opens the building every morning and closes at night, and lately he has made a bunch of trips to Sam's for more wood!!! He also listens to me bitch & complain, but lately just be excited that things are finally moving forward quickly! We work as a team...
"It takes a village..." Thanks everyone
Next week we will be having another cleaning bee... Wanna help?
Judy