BOWDOIN — Voters at Saturday’s annual town meeting approved the $ 966,186 municipal budget proposed by selectmen. The new spending plan represents a 1 percent decrease from the 2011 budget and an approximately $ 7,000 increase in money raised through taxation for a total of $266,304.
A total of 97 registered voters attended Saturday’s meeting at Bowdoin Central School, making for an approximately 3.7 percent voter turnout. As their first order of business, town meeting voters elected Jim Moulton to serve as moderator.
Though the proposed budget passed as drafted in the 65-article warrant, two articles were defeated by voters almost unanimously with the raising of orange ballot cards.
One, Article 22, would have authorized town officials to hire a construction firm to build an approximately 1,300- square- foot addition to the town office.
A resident asked why the addition was needed. Selectman Marc Bernier said town staff all work behind one counter, and they are running out of space. They don’t all work there at the same time, but at times at least a couple of staff members are behind that counter serving the public, which sometimes leads to crowding and lines stretching outside the building.
At the 2010 town meeting, voters approved an article authorizing selectmen to solicit bids for construction of an addition to the 1,100- square-foot town office, which was built in 1989. To fund the construction, selectmen Saturday recommended appropriating $ 155,000 from two reserve accounts — $84,837 from an account titled Reserve for Maintenance or Additions to Town Buildings; and $ 70,163 from the Town Forest Reserve account.
When a resident asked what kind of structure would be built, Bernier said selectmen so far only had a rough sketch of what the structure would look like, and said the project hasn’t gone out to bid.
Selectman Leroy Letourneau told voters that selectmen can’t put the job out to bid until the town has authorized that money be spent on the project.
Selectmen were asked if a study had been conduced on the cause of the congestion. The very first question posed during the discussion was whether the addition meant hours would be increased at the town office, to which Bernier responded, “ Not immediately.”
Planning Board chairwoman Michaeline Mulvey suggested that it would be nice to have more space, so that when the Planning Board meets, members could “hear what we’re doing.”
Resident Gwendolyn Thomas said she’d rather see money spent on expanded hours at the town office than more space.
Much of the discussion about congestion at the town office focused on the town instituting Rapid Renewal Service, the state’s online service that allows people to renew vehicle registrations online.
Town Clerk Melanie Page noted that with online payments, excise tax would be paid to the state, which it would then send to the town. That would mean a time delay before the town has that money to spend, she said.
Residents suggested that town officials study the cause of town office congestion, look into online vehicle registration, and use the town’s website to better inform and communicate with the public, after someone noted it didn’t even list Saturday’s town meeting on it.
Also defeated was Article 21, which would have instituted building permit fees for all construction, not just construction valued at $2,000 or more.
After residents asked if they would have to get a building permit for a dog house (Bernier said, “probably”), and then a bird house (“ Probably not” was the answer), a resident said, “I’m not sure you’re actually going to encourage more people to come in for a building permit.”
With that, voters rejected Article 21.
Consideration of Article 4, which was the report of the tax collector, prompted some discussion from a handful of residents with questions about how personal property tax is levied and how it gets valued, as well as how town officials determine who has a business in town.
Elections
Selectman John Simonson’s term ended Saturday. Town meeting voters elected Michelle Keleher to a threeyear term on the Board of Selectmen.
Gwendolyn Thomas was reelected to the School Administrative District 75 board of directors for a third, threeyear term.
The meeting, which did not break for lunch this year, adjourned at 11:35 a.m.
dmoore@timesrecord.com
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