Millinocket hot dog thieves warned on TV

MILLINOCKET – Look out, you hot dog thieves. The town of Millinocket is on the case.

Or at least that was the message Town Manager Eugene Conlogue delivered straight into the local-access television camera during a Town Council meeting Thursday night.

Conlogue was expressing his ire at the group of “morons” who broke a lock and got into the new community pool facility Tuesday night and stole some hot dogs.

“When you stole the hot dogs out of there, you [went from committing] vandalism and criminal trespass to a burglary,” Conlogue said. “So we are coming for you.”

The more than slight melodrama to Conlogue’s pronouncement, which drew laughter from Conlogue, the council and the dozen people attending the meeting, underscored a serious point: Criminals should not trifle with the town’s just-opened $1.4 million investment.

Resident Alyce Maragus agreed.

“It’s really sad that after all the hard work that all of you councilors … put into this pool that we have an element of people here who want to take that away with vandalism,” she said. “That’s a disgrace.”

More than 100 residents, including swarms of very happy children, were on hand July 2 for the grand opening of the pool. When approving the idea, town officials declared that the new pool would be a cornerstone to a well-rounded recreation complex at Stearns High School that already includes a football stadium, baseball and softball diamonds and an outdoor hockey rink.

The pool also would help keep town youth engaged in positive activities during the summer months and would help draw residents from other towns to Millinocket, they said.

So far, the pool seems to be doing exactly that, Conlogue said.

“Users are extremely pleased with it,” he said.

Conlogue and councilors discussed minor problems with the pool, such as portions of the pool deck that get too slippery when wet, some small cracks appearing in the pool or deck surface, and the need for security cameras to catch criminal activity.

The pool is not entirely built. Some finishing touches remain to be completed, he said, and cameras will be installed shortly.

He and the council also commended Recreation Department Director Frank Clukey and Assistant Director Jody Nelson for helping marshal the construction to completion. Clukey was practically a clerk of the works through the lengthy construction, relieving Conlogue of much stress, he said.

Letters of commendation will be sent to East Millinocket and Medway, the governments for whom Clukey and Nelson work when they are not overseeing Millinocket’s recreational efforts as part of a sharing of services.

Thomas Malcolm, chairman of the town’s Recreation Commission, cited Conlogue’s efforts.

“You need a thank you for giving the community something to be proud of,” he said. “The kids are having a really great time.”

The pool effort was buoyed by a donation from former Great Northern Paper Co. executive Thomas Griffin, who gave $1,000 to the effort the day the pool opened, Conlogue said. The money will go toward buying pool equipment.

Conlogue gently encouraged other residents to make donations, saying that his door remains open.