Standish voters elected Isabel Higgins, Kimberly Pomerleau and Lester Ordway to the Town Council Tuesday, while also approving a bond question to fund the creation of a public beach on the western shore of Sebago Lake.
Town Council term limits imposed by voters last summer forced Councilors Phil Pomerleau and Margaret Spencer from office Tuesday. Isabel Higgins defeated Councilor Steven Nesbitt, 476 to 432, in the race to replace Pomerleau in the three-year Area 1 council seat.
Meanwhile, Kimberly Pomerleau, who is married to Phil Pomerleau, narrowly defeated Brian Libby and Bill Orr in the race to replace Spencer for a three-year term representing the town at-large. Pomerleau received 324 votes, while Orr received 309, and Libby received 273.
Lester Ordway received 706 votes in an uncontested run for a one-year at-large council seat, replacing Nesbitt, who was appointed to the seat last year for a one-year term. Voters cast 248 blank votes in that decision.
Voters approved all five referendum questions on the June 9 ballot, including a $441,565 bond question that will facilitate the conversion of the Cargill lot on the western shore of Sebago Lake into a public beach.
The beach bond, or Question 3 – $397,386 in principal and $44,179 in interest payments – will fund the construction of a 1,200-foot access road from Harmon’s Beach Road and a series of right-of-way acquisitions to enable construction of the access road.
The Cargill lot beach is owned by the Portland Water District and is located in Lower Bay. The town plans to sign a 25-year lease with the district for the beach parcel and enlist the Pentagon’s Innovative Readiness Training labor assistance program in beach infrastructure construction efforts. The lease would cost the town $100 a year.
For the Standish Planning Board, Adam Higgins defeated incumbent Cynthia Beckwith in the race for a three-year at-large seat on the Planning Board. Incumbent Michael Willette received 662 votes in an uncontested run to retain his three-year seat representing Area 2. Voters cast 292 blank votes in that race.
In the race for the Standish representatives to the School Administrative District 6 Board of Directors, Paul Mosley defeated Amy Dunning-Stepnick, 431 to 383, for an at-large one-year-seat on the school board. Meanwhile, Robert Deakin, who was appointed to the board last year, received 675 votes in an uncontested run for an at-large three-year seat. Voters cast 279 blank votes in that race.
Voters elected Ellen Kasprzyk, who is married to School Administrative District 6 board member Dan Kasprzyk, and Phil Pomerleau to three-year, at-large seats on the Budget Committee, with Kasprzyk receiving 509 votes, and Pomerleau receiving 476.
Pomerleau and Kasprzyk are replacing Carolyn Brown and Ronald Richardson, who are not allowed to run this year due to term limits. Lowell Weeks received 681 votes in an uncontested race for a one-year at-large seat on the budget committee to replace the opening left by Kasprzyk. Voters cast 273 blank votes in that race.
On Saturday, June 13, Standish will hold its annual town meeting at 9 a.m. in the Town Council chambers. Voters will weigh in on the budget adopted by the council, which increases spending $456,762, or 5.9 percent, to $8,213,001.
If approved, the municipal portion of the tax rate would increase 7 cents, according to Town Manager Gordon Billington. The 5.9 percent increase in gross municipal expenditures will be offset by a $353,504 increase in non-property tax revenues, including increased excise tax revenues, medical reimbursements and the use of surplus.
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