Maine

Construction worker shortage holds back storm rebuilding on Maine’s coast

Published

1 month ago

November 29, 2024

Construction worker shortage holds back storm rebuilding on Maine’s coast

This story first appeared in the Midcoast Update, a newsletter published every Tuesday and Friday morning. Sign up here to receive stories about the midcoast delivered to your inbox each week, along with our other newsletters.

It’s never been simple to get repairs and expansions done on Maine’s coastal properties. Owners must work with a handful of firms that specialize in marine construction to get their projects designed, permitted and built.

But those projects got even harder this year, after a handful of storms last winter did widespread damage across the state. Some of the heaviest destruction was along the coast, where two storms in January tore out many docks and wharves while severely eroding parts of the shoreline.

That created a big backlog for companies like Prock Marine of Rockland. While it previously took the firm 10 to 14 months to complete projects such as dock rebuilds and shoreline stabilization, the timeline roughly doubled — to between 18 months and two years — as repairs from last winter’s storms came in, according to project manager Sean Kelly.

The company could eventually shorten that timeline by expanding its staff of 35 to 40 people. But construction firms such as Prock have had a hard time filling positions even as its more experienced staff approach retirement.

“We’d love to put together another crew, another barge crew, but it’s hard to maintain what we’ve got,” Kelly said.

By now, it’s well understood that Maine needs more workers to replace those who are aging out of vital industries such as construction and other trades. But state officials recently singled out marine construction as one that’s most in need of new workers if Maine’s lucrative working waterfronts are to be ready for storms that are growing more severe with climate change.

“Increased contractor capacity, particularly in marine construction and the engineering, planning, and permitting components of these projects, will be critical,” according to the new four-year climate action plan released this month by the administration of Gov. Janet Mills

The report calls for studying the recent storms and working with industries, organizations and community colleges to expand the number of builders who can do coastal construction. More broadly, it calls for creating opportunities for 7,000 new registered apprentices to serve as the state’s “climate-ready workforce” by 2030 and increasing the number of women working in construction, among other steps.

As it stands, there are few firms that coastal property owners can look to when they are trying to rebuild from storms, according to Linda Nelson, economic and community development director in the fishing port of Stonington, where the busy local lobster co-op suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage in January.

“There is Prock Marine and there is Prock Marine, pretty much, and if you can get Prock Marine, if you have a job that’s big enough and lucrative to get on their schedule, great,” said Nelson, who also is co-chair of a state commission that’s studying how to make Maine’s infrastructure more resilient against similar storms.

But, Nelson went on, Maine will need more “human and financial resources” to quickly repair roads, docks, bridges and other infrastructure that are essential to Maine’s peninsula and island communities in the wake of severe storms. There’s also the broader challenge of rebuilding that infrastructure so that it’s higher and more protected from future damage.

There are several things that make marine construction more laborious than traditional land-based projects, including additional permitting requirements, the need to work off barges, and the difficulty of ensuring that structures will sit level on the ocean floor while withstanding tides, corrosion and other forces.

At Prock Marine, Kelly said there is no “silver bullet” to bringing in more workers, but he welcomes the efforts of the state and private organizations to create more of a pipeline for young Mainers to join the trades. He is now working with the state Labor Department to start the company’s own apprenticeship program.

He’s hopeful that more students coming up through the state’s schools will see the value of receiving vocational training and entering the trades, particularly at an established company where they can receive ongoing training and mentorship as well as a full set of benefits.

“Now the trick is to get the people who are interested to walk through the door to fill out an application,” he said.

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Maine

Maine Celtics honor Pat Moody’s impact on the Windham community

Published

9 hours ago

January 4, 2025

Press Room

Maine Celtics honor Pat Moody’s impact on the Windham community

PORTLAND, Maine (WMTW) – The Windham community spent Friday night honoring the life of a beloved resident who died late last year. Friday night’s Maine Celtics game paid tribute to Pat Moody, a former youth sports coach who was always helping others.

“He loved his community, and he loved seeing people be happy, in particular around the game of basketball,” said Dajuan Eubanks, president of the Maine Celtics told our media partner, WMTW. “It was an honor to know him.”

Cheering and clapping are typical for any basketball game, but honoring someone like Pat Moody brought everyone to their feet. The entire arena stood up to take a moment to celebrate the life and legacy of the Windham native as his loved ones took to the court during the second timeout of the first quarter.

“He’s like the mayor of Windham,” said Tyler Graves, Moody’s lifelong friend. “He’s touched so many different lives over the years.”

Moody died in November from cancer. While he may be gone, the memory of him isn’t. A basketball court now stands in his name, and his legacy as a beloved advocate for youth sports continues on.

“It was great to know him,” Eubanks said. “He was just a very enthusiastic and energetic guy, always had kind words to say, and was always caring.”

Friday night’s game had a 50/50 raffle benefiting the Pat Moody Foundation. The foundation was started to provide ongoing support to the Windham community, especially for youth sports. The raffle raised nearly $2,000 for the foundation, which the Maine Celtics say is a record high for them this season.

“Do whatever you can to give back. Small acts of kindness can really transform into something greater,” Graves said. “It’s kind of what Pat believed as well.”

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Maine

Denver beats Maine men’s hockey with late goal

Published

16 hours ago

January 4, 2025

Press Room

Denver beats Maine men’s hockey with late goal

ORONO — With two of the top three scoring teams in the country on the ice, of course a low-scoring game was the result.

In Friday’s matchup of top-10 teams, the first of two games went to No. 6 Denver, in heartbreaking fashion for seventh-ranked Maine. The Pioneers scored with 20.7 seconds left, on a shot from the point by Cale Ashcroft that deflected off the shin guard of Maine’s David Breazeale and past goalie Albin Boija, giving the reigning NCAA champions a 2-1 win at Alfond Arena.

It came after Maine (12-4-2) lost a faceoff in its defensive zone, then blocked the initial shot. For Maine coach Ben Barr, it was an another example of not doing all the little things in a close game against a strong opponent. In that regard, it was similar to Sunday’s 4-2 loss to Bentley in Portland.

“Our margin of error, and this has been for the whole time that we’ve been here, our margin of error is very, very small. When you play teams like (Denver), that one faceoff matters. It’s disappointing,” Barr said. “We just didn’t do enough to win.”

Both teams are also among the best in the nation in scoring defense. Only Minnesota State allows fewer goals per game than Maine’s 1.76, while Denver (15-4) is tied for seventh in the country, allowing two goals per game. For most of the game, Maine’s defensive effort was strong. Denver went into the game tied with Minnesota as the top scoring team in the country, averaging four goals per game (Maine is third at 3.88 goals per game). While the Pioneers had just four shots in the third period, the winning goal came when the Black Bears couldn’t clear the puck, and Denver had scoring chances throughout the game that were the result of defensive miscues, only for the Black Bears to be bailed out by Boija (22 saves)

“Our guys played hard. We still have two or three players on the back end that are unplayable, and that makes it really hard on the rest of the guys,” Barr said. “They try, it’s just hasn’t clicked for them for some reason. We’ve got to help them.”

A captain, Breazeale agreed that the Black Bears need to do more.

“There’s definitely some good to take away from it. It’s just that last 1% that we as a collective team have got to take forward,” he said. “We made one block, and the puck’s bouncing around. There’s no excuse for it. We’ve got to be able to respond in those big moments, all five guys on the ice, and we weren’t able to do it tonight.”

Denver took a 1-0 lead with a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 2:53 of the second period. Near the left post, Carter King stuffed in the rebound of a shot by Aidan Thompson that ricocheted off the boards behind the net.

The Black Bears tied the game at 18:37 of the second on Frank Djurasevic’s power-play goal past Pioneer goalie Matt Davis (29 saves).

In the third period, Barr shuffled his top two lines, moving wing Josh Nadeau to play with center Harrison Scott and wing Thomas Freel, while moving Ross Mitton to a line with center Nolan Renwick and wing Taylor Makar – a trio that played well together early in the season.

“We were trying to get Josh going. I thought he was a little stale in the first couple periods, to be honest. I thought he was better in the third,” Barr said.

Barr also moved Owen Fowler from wing to center, on a line with wings Anthony Calafiore and Nicholas Niemo. With captain Lyden Breen out indefinitely because of a leg injury, the Black Bears are short-handed at center, Barr said. Right now, he’s trying to find guys who can take draws and win faceoffs.

The loss stings, Breazeale said, but there’s no time to dwell on it. These teams face each at Alfond Arena again at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

“We feel like we’ve got a lot to prove as a team,” Breazeale said, “and tomorrow night we’ve got to come out with that for 60 more minutes.”

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Maine

Ellsworth veterinarian to settle allegations over controlled substance storage

Published

1 day ago

January 3, 2025

Press Room

An Ellsworth veterinarian has agreed to pay more than $145,000 to settle allegations that he violated the federal Controlled Substances Act.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency was unable to conduct several audits last year at Dr. Alan Toothaker’s registered location because of insufficient record keeping.

An investigation revealed that Toothaker maintained minimal oversight, had improper storage, failed to keep regular inventories and did not keep appropriate records.

U.S. Attorney Darcie McElwee said the practice did not have adequate security or oversight, making it very difficult to determine if any substances had gone missing.

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