Category: Government & Politics

Harpswell’s annual meeting for nonresident taxpayers will return on July 5 after a three-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Select Board has hired a consultant from New Hampshire to help the town explore the issue of affordable housing.

In addition to the budget referendum for Maine School Administrative District 75, Harpswell voters will see a town ballot with one question on June 13.

The Harpswell Select Board has contracted a Gorham firm to build a new, 100-foot-tall emergency communications tower at the Orr’s Island Fire Station for $121,720.

Central Maine Power is nearly finished with a project to upgrade more than three miles of power infrastructure leading to the Harpswell Town Office and surrounding facilities, according to the utility. The town needs the upgrade to make planned improvements such as a new office HVAC system and recycling center enhancements.

Completing the first major update to Harpswell’s comprehensive plan in nearly two decades will require input from a wide variety of local interests, said officials at an open house on Wednesday, May 24, designed to explain individual components of the plan and gather residents’ feedback and suggestions.

The town will pay a Woolwich contractor $25,210.34 to install LED lighting inside the Town Office. A grant and a rebate will cover the cost of the conversion, which aims to reduce energy costs and shrink the town’s carbon footprint.

The Select Board has raised the fee to dispose of materials at the Transfer Station from $145 to $175 per ton, effective Tuesday, May 2.

Gregory Greenleaf and William “Bart” Beattie won seats on the school board in a three-way race on Saturday, March 11.

Voters balked at the $800,000 price to buy back the Harpswell Coastal Academy campus, overwhelmingly opposing the purchase at town meeting on Saturday, March 11.

When Harpswell’s traditional in-person town meeting returns on March 11 after a three-year absence during the COVID-19 pandemic, voters will have 67 matters to decide.

At the March 11 town meeting, Harpswell voters will be asked to approve a change to the boundaries of the Mitchell Field Marine Business District and a corresponding change to the shoreland zoning map.

Harpswell Selectman Kevin Johnson will attempt to secure a fourth consecutive three-year term in the town election on March 11. He appears likely to succeed, as the only candidate for Select Board on the ballot. He currently chairs the board.

The Harpswell Coastal Academy Board of Directors wants the town to pay up to $800,000 to buy back its campus, more than five times the $150,000 sale price when the academy bought the property from the town in 2015.
Harpswell Coastal Academy says it needs the money to pay off debt and meet other obligations as the decade-old charter school prepares to close. Harpswell voters will decide whether to pay the sum at the annual town meeting on March 11.