Harpswell’s Town Meeting will resume at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 22, at Harpswell Community School, two weeks after overcrowding forced its cancellation at the same venue. But this time, high-profile questions related to a new fire station, the comprehensive plan and the fate of a town building won’t be on the warrant. Instead, they will be decided by secret ballot in upcoming referendums.
The town’s Select Board — including newly elected member Matt Gilley — unanimously approved the changes at its meeting on Thursday, March 13. The revised approach was based on input from Town Administrator Kristi Eiane.
Initially, Eiane had suggested holding the rescheduled Town Meeting on April 5 at the Orion Performing Arts Center in Topsham. Orion can accommodate up to 700 people, far beyond the Harpswell school’s capacity of 420.
But Eiane updated her guidance later in the week over concerns about the town’s proposed 2025 budget. She said Harpswell was only authorized by 2024 voters to continue spending through March, when the new budget was expected to be approved.
While Harpswell may move its annual Town Meeting to the Orion center in future years to accommodate larger crowds, she said, the venue wasn’t available on short notice any sooner than April 5.
“We did not get to budget items, so there is a sense of urgency to get to this issue,” Eiane told the Select Board.
To quell concerns about another overcrowded event, the Select Board chose to remove the warrant’s three most controversial articles and place them on secret ballots as part of already scheduled votes in June and November.
An article to authorize a $6 million bond to build a municipal fire and rescue station will be decided alongside the annual school budget vote on Tuesday, June 10. So will an article to determine the fate of the administration building at George J. Mitchell Field.
However, a proposed update to the town’s comprehensive plan will be pushed to Tuesday, Nov. 4. The Select Board also agreed to remove from the plan items related to affordable housing that some residents opposed.
Select Board Chair Kevin Johnson said he fears voters would reject the plan without those changes.
As with any election, absentee ballots will be available starting 30 days prior, and a new public hearing will be held on each issue.
Resident Bob Gaudreau, part of a group proposing to repurpose the vacant Mitchell Field building as a nonprofit recreation and events center, spoke at Thursday’s meeting. He asked the board to replace a question about whether to demolish the building with his group’s proposal.
In February, the Select Board voted 2-1 against placing the rec center proposal on the Town Meeting warrant. However, with former member Jane Covey’s departure and Gilley’s arrival, one of the two dissenting votes could flip.
The Select Board agreed to revisit Gaudreau’s request at its next meeting on Thursday, March 27. The board said it wanted to give the town’s Mitchell Field Committee another chance to weigh in. The committee has been a staunch opponent of the rec center proposal.
