Union residents launch new community Web site

UNION – A handful of residents here fired-up a Web site three weeks ago that offers town news and information from a community perspective.

The site www.unionmaine.net was originally created because of a stir over town officials wanting to combine the fire and ambulance departments, Bill Packard, one of the Web site organizers and a former assistant fire chief, said Sunday. A decision on the merger is still pending, but the impetus for the Web site has changed.

Now, the focus is not anti-town government, it is pro-community, Packard said. “That’s what I see as the message here.”

Since the community Web site opened, the town has its own new Web site up and running, Packard said, so the community version is seeking suggestions from residents on what they want to see on the site. Cub Scout activities, resident profiles, business features, local recipes, a swap shop?

Packard, his wife, Kathy Packard, Nick and Kay Santorineos, Jason and Candice Wiley and John Reilly are the founders of the local Web site. They meet weekly to work on developing the site, which features a community newsletter, letters to the editor, links to outside resources, community and neighbors activities, such as auctions, flea markets and yard sales, weather, community calendars and government news and information, and a forum and chat section, and more.

“We want to have fun with it,” Packard said. “We really want to hear from people.”