BLUE HILL, Maine — Town leaders in Blue Hill are looking to remedy the need for affordable child care options this summer with its newest program.
For first through seventh graders, the town will be hosting its first summer camp for both locals and non-residents.
Starting on July 3, campers will meet from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday through Friday for a handful of activities and field trips.
Campers can expect field trips to Acadia National Park to a planetarium in Orono and the Ellsworth bowling alley, among others.
The camp will run for eight weeks, and parents can choose whether to enroll their young ones in either one or all of the camp's duration.
"It's something the community kept asking for when I first got here last fall and I was like, 'We have the opportunity, the resources, the ability to coordinate this. Why don't we do it?'" Blue Hill Town Manager Nicholas Nadeau said.
Nadeau brought the idea from his previous job back in Vermont. He said he already has around 100 registrations for the summer.
"You know, we're a municipality, we're not a private company or corporation. So we don't have to make a profit, we just need to do our responsible justice for the taxpayers and break even," Nadeau said.
Currently, the full eight-week cost is $775 for locals and $850 for non-residents.
The town has already hired about a dozen camp councilors, who will go through paid training for CPR, first-aid, and lifeguarding. Nadeau said the town doesn't plan to have a cap on registrations and plans to hire more councilors as needed.