KENNEBUNKPORT – If voters approve the plan, Kennebunkport could have a new town hall as soon as December 2025. The construction and funding plan for a new town hall building is one of seven municipal ballot questions that residents will have a chance to vote on in November.
The questions, which were finalized by the board of selectmen last week, all deserve voter attention, said Town Manager Laurie Smith. “I don’t think I’d weigh one heavier than the other,” she said.
The other ballot items deal with a range of issues, from additional funding for the Cape Porpoise Pier project and an easement agreement between the town and a local business.
Given that there will also be several state questions, Smith urged Kennebunkport residents to cast their votes via absentee ballot, which would allow them more time to deliberate. Absentee ballots are available for pick-up at town hall 30 days out from Election Day. Voters can also request that an absentee ballot is mailed to them by contacting the town clerk. The last day to pick up or request an absentee ballot is five days before Election Day. Alternatively, voters who want to vote in person can do so at the Village Fire Station, 32 North St. between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Nov. 7.
Cape Porpoise Pier. Dan King photo
Ballot questions 3 and 4 pertain to the new town hall, a project that Kennebunkport has been working on for multiple years.
Question 3 asks voters whether they authorize the construction of a new town hall on a site called the Village Parcel, which runs from North Street to School Street, with an $8.8 million price tag and outlines how the town intends to pay for the project. Voters are asked to approve the sale of the current town office on Elm Street and another property at 49 Beachwood Ave. — a one-acre parcel that is the site of the old town garage — and authorize the use up to $800,000 in reserve funds in order to fund the construction. According to the payment scheme, whatever is not covered by property sales, reserve funds and fundraising will be covered by up to $8 million in general obligation bonds.
Question 4 poses another town hall funding question to voters, asking whether they approve the sale of a town-owned property on School Street that is adjacent to the town’s Parks and Recreation Department and Parsons Field in order to fund the project and reduce the need to use bond money.
According to Smith, the sale of the property on School Street was broken out into a separate question because the board of selectmen anticipates more pushback on the sale of this piece of land, known as the McCabe Parcel, because of its proximity to the Parks and Rec Department. Breaking the questions into two allows voters to weigh on this sale separately.
Kennebunkport’s current town hall building has become outdated. “The current town hall has been here since 1962, and it is on a compact downtown lot, so it doesn’t have the required parking for public business as well as employees,” Smith said. The building also lacks adequate space for meetings or to safeguard historical documents.
If residents want to know more about the plan regarding the new town hall, the board of selectmen will hold a public presentation during their meeting on Sept. 28. There will also be a tour of the existing town hall on Oct. 5 and 10 between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. during which residents will have the opportunity to see the space and ask questions about the plan.
In addition to the new town hall, voters will weigh in on changes to the town’s 2023 Comprehensive Plan, an easement agreement, and more.
Question 1 asks voters to approve language changes to Chapter 7 and Appendix A of the town’s Comprehensive Plan. For example, these changes include making sure that mobile home parks are included in the plan and expanding the number of strategies the town will use in order to provide residents with recreation and cultural resources, and more.
Smith noted that these are minor and administrative changes required by the state, a full list of which can be viewed on town’s website or by contacting the town clerk.
The second question asks voters whether they agree with a change to the town’s street opening ordinance, which governs contractor work on a public road. The amendment clarifies what sort of repairs are required from a contractor that does road work, and it increases the amount of money that the company must provide as a performance bond — a financial guarantee that the terms of a contract will be honored. It also transfers the the vast majority of approvals for street opening from the board of selectmen to the public works director.
Question 5 deals with the Cape Porpoise Pier project, an effort to rehabilitate the commercial pier that supports the local fishing economy. It asks voters to allocate $710,000 from the town capital reserve balance to go towards the Cape Porpoise Pier project to cover additional labor and material costs. The transfer of these funds would not increase property taxes.
Question 6 asks voters to authorize an easement agreement — a legal arrangement where one party can use land that is owned by another party — between the board of selectmen and the Green Marine Corporation. The agreement would allow the Green Marine Corporation to continue operating a marine railway off of Langsford Road, which the business has operated for decades. A recent survey revealed that property thought to be owned by Green Marine Corporation was actually the property of the town of Kennebunkport. After consulting the town’s legal counsel, Smith wrote to board of selectmen advising that an easement agreement was the best way forward.
The final question posed to voters pertains to the Cape Porpoise Fire Station. Currently, the fire station is owned by the Atlantic Engine Fire Company that leases the space to the town of Kennebunkport. Kennebunkport intends to buy the fire station for $1, which would mean the town no longer leases the space but takes on the cost of utilities and maintaining it.
Smith encouraged voters to attend the board of selectmen meeting on Oct. 12, where the board will host a public hearing on all seven ballot questions.
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