MILLINOCKET -- In what may well be the last vote for as many as three members of the body, the Millinocket Town Council voted to approve a loan to Lisa Pelkey, the former owner of the Community Press.
Following an executive session, in which Pelkey was in attendance, the council approved the Order, unanimously and without comment.
The loan was for the amount of $5,709.73, at 7.25% interest, to be paid in sixty monthly payments beginning January 1, 2006.
It was further ordered that a previous loan to Pelkey, doing business as The Community Press, which was originally approved on October 10, 2002, shall be discharged upon payment of $5,213.98.
This action was taken in an unusual special meeting called for the afternoon of an election day in which one of the members of the council is not running for reelection, and two others are on the ballot for reelection.
Present were councilors Cyr, Davis, Fanjoy, Nelson, Paul, and Polstein. Councilor Busque was excused.
Currently employed as a reporter for the Katahdin Press, Pelkey has often been accused of partisanship in her reporting of issues relating to the Millinocket Area Growth & Investment Council (MAGIC), which was founded by Councilor Polstein and on whose board Councilor Fanjoy served. Pelkey has endorsed Polstein and Bruce McLean, the executive director of MAGIC, in their election bid.
