The Harpswell Select Board has voted unanimously to move two warrant items slated for the March 14 Town Meeting to a secret ballot, citing a desire to boost voter participation.
“I’ve always thought that the ballot items have a (much) better chance of getting a lot more voters, because people come in and vote, and then they leave,” Select Board Chair Kevin Johnson said during the board’s meeting on Thursday, Jan. 8.
Select Board member David Chipman agreed: “There’s more voter participation in the secret ballot.”
Last year, town officials had to postpone the annual Town Meeting when an overflow crowd motivated by high-profile issues exceeded the capacity of the gym at Harpswell Community School. The meeting was rescheduled and major items moved to a secret ballot.
The two items being moved to secret ballot this year are Curtis Memorial Library’s annual funding request and a proposal to improve public access to a state-owned parcel at Clark Cove, on Harpswell Neck.
The Brunswick library is requesting $164,400 for services it provides to Harpswell residents, up 3.3% from its 2025 funding request of $159,089. Voters passed the library’s 2025 request with 72.3% of voters in favor. The count was 550-211.
Harpswell Budget Advisory Committee Chair Linda Hall said more than 1,400 Harpswell cardholders checked out nearly 30,000 items from Curtis Memorial in 2025, excluding digital content.
The other item involves a hotly contested plan to improve public access to Clark Cove by adding a beach access trail and small parking area. It includes spending up to $5,000 to place signage along the parcel’s border with an adjacent residential area.
The property encompasses about 18.5 acres on the east side of Harpswell Neck, with roughly 1,500 feet of shorefront. The town is proposing on-street parking along Allen Point Road, but that could change to a small gravel lot farther from the roadway.
The Town Lands Committee has proposed a management agreement with the state Bureau of Parks and Lands in which Harpswell would lightly improve and maintain the property. It would be managed by town staff and volunteers.
The Select Board voted 2-0 at its Oct. 2 meeting to place the proposal before voters in March. Johnson and member Matt Gilley voted in favor. Chipman abstained, saying he is a beneficiary of a family trust that owns land abutting the site.
Harpswell officials hosted a community meeting in December to present details of the plan, which several abutters and nearby property owners strongly oppose.
Opponents have argued that developing the site would lead to more road hazards and trespassing incidents in their otherwise quiet neighborhood. They’ve also voiced concerns about impacts on wildlife.
Supporters of the proposal have noted that Maine purchased the land more than 50 years ago for public use but never followed through on making site improvements.
Both ballot items will receive a public hearing at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 11, at the Harpswell Community School gymnasium.
