Voters will help chart Harpswell’s future at the annual Town Meeting on Saturday, March 8, as they consider a comprehensive plan with goals for the decade ahead and a $6 million bond to build a central emergency services station.
Voters also will decide whether to demolish an aging building on the waterfront at George J. Mitchell Field, move forward with the replacement of the town dock destroyed in last year’s storms, and absorb rising costs for public safety and town employees’ health insurance.
Residents will gather at Harpswell Community School, where polls for the election of town officials and a referendum question will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The business meeting, in which residents debate and vote on items in an open forum, will commence at 10 a.m., with more than 50 items on the warrant.
At the polls, voters will elect a Select Board member, school board member, tax collector, and town clerk, all for three-year terms. All four candidates are running unopposed.
Two are newcomers: Current Deputy Town Clerk Tracy Gaudet is running for tax collector and Cundy’s Harbor lobsterman Matt Gilley, who serves on multiple town committees, is seeking a seat on the Select Board.
There are also two incumbents seeking reelection: Maine School Administrative District 75 Board of Directors member Ryan Larsen and Town Clerk Cathy Doughty.
The sole referendum item on the ballot is the annual funding request from Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick. The library is asking for $159,089, the same amount voters have approved for the past two years.
In addition to the $6 million bond for the central emergency services facility, voters will consider nearly $2 million for public safety in the form of emergency medical services, firefighting and law enforcement.
Voters will consider $772,322 for patrol, marine and dispatch services from Cumberland County; $421,300 for 24/7 paramedic coverage from Mid Coast Hospital; $343,109 for town firefighters; $231,500 for the town’s three volunteer fire departments, and $200,000 toward emergency vehicles.
Roads and other public infrastructure make up another high-priority issue. Voters will consider $600,000 for road construction, with plans for a delayed reconstruction of Peabody Road and repairs to storm-damaged roads. Another $200,000 would go toward long-planned improvements to the recycling center.
The town is proposing $250,000 to replace the town dock and build a sturdier version more likely to withstand storms. Some of the funds will come from insurance. For both the town dock and storm-damaged roads, the town is pursuing funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Also on the warrant are $592,365 for the town’s snow removal contract and $114,425 for the road commissioner’s budget, which covers routine road maintenance.
Voters will be asked to appropriate $515,000 for debt service payments, down from $570,000 last year; and $210,000 for savings accounts related to town facilities, vehicles, and land improvements.
New expenditures on the warrant include a $20,000 allocation for a wage and salary study to evaluate town positions and benefits. Town officials have said they are anticipating 17% higher employee costs this year, mostly because of an increase in health insurance premiums.
Among several routine funding requests from local nonprofits is a new one for $5,000 from the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association. The organization, which has strong ties to Harpswell, advocates for commercial fishing and against the development of wind power off the region’s coast.
Another new item involving a nonprofit is a proposal to lease the old concession stand at Trufant-Summerton Athletic Field to Harpswell Aging at Home as a storage facility for the organization’s programs focused on older adults.
Read on for more information about the central emergency services station, comprehensive plan, election and budget.
