CAMBRIDGE â âThis bathhouse probably has the best view of any in our whole country,â said Commissioner Sarah Stewart of the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources during a ribbon-cutting on Thursday, July 15, at Lake Umbagog State Park.
The ceremony officially marked the completion of the new two-story structure overlooking the 7,850-acre shallow lake rimmed by forested mountains.
COVID-19 distancing and mask requirements prevented the state from marking the occasion in 2020 when the bathhouse was first opened to public use in the state-owned campground off Route 26.
The Division of Parks and Recreation calls the handsome shingled building a visitor services building because its facilities include both menâs and womenâs toilet rooms, a family bathroom, three showers, a laundry room, and pot-washing and dishwashing area.
COOS COUNTY â The Coos County delegation zoomed through the public hearing on the county commissionâs proposed 2021 budget in short time Saturday morning. Held virtually, the hearing was over in an hour and a half, a far cry from the lengthy affairs of previous years.
Coos County Administrator Jennifer Fish presented the commissionâs total proposed 2021 budget of $43.1 million, a decrease of $1,944,766 or 4.3 percent over the current budget of $45.1 million.
But revenues are also down, resulting in a 7.5 percent projected increase in the amount to be raised through the county tax, from $16.3 million to $17.7 million.
Fish said she hopes to see the county tax increase reduced before the delegation meets in March to approve a final budget. She noted the commission estimated using $3 million in surplus to reduce taxes. That is $600,000 less than used last year. Fish said she should have a better sense of the actual surplus for this year by mid to late January. She said