LINCOLNVILLE — Voting 42 to 18, Lincolnville voters accepted Monday evening, Oct. 28, a gift of $45,000 to the town from the nonprofit Lincolnville Volunteer Fire Department to purchase three acres on Beach Road (Route 173). The goal is to eventually build a new fire station there for the coastal area of town.

The vote was preceded by debate, as several citizens questioned the plan, saying they wanted more justification from the Lincolnville Fire Department why that location was chosen.

“This warrant tonight should have been an informational meeting,” said Lincolnville resident Will Brown. “For public fairness, it should be required.”

The special town meeting Monday night had two agenda items. The first asked for approval of the Volunteer Fire Department’s gift. The second was an article to amend the 2013-2014 school budget approved at June Town Meeting to use additional revenue from the state to meet new teacher retirement cost obligations. The increase to the budget was $32,985 and the measure was unanimously adopted.

Robert Duke, of Rockport, was moderator of the meeting, which began at 6 p.m. in the Walsh Common of Lincolnville Central School. Selectmen and school board members sat before approximately 60 citizens, some of whom took turns addressing members of the nonprofit Lincolnville Volunteer Fire Department.

The nonprofit has existed since the 1950s and its purpose is to help fund capital expenditures of the town’s fire department. Most of the Lincolnville Volunteer Fire Department members serve as firefighters on the Lincolnville Fire Department.

In 2008, Lincolnville accepted funds from the nonprofit to build a new fire station on Route 52, a $1.1 million project. The money was made possible through the liquidation of old Lincolnville Telephone Co. securities bequeathed in 1985 to the nonprofit by Lincolnville resident Hazel Heald.

The nonprofit cashed out telephone stock to purchase the land near the intersection of routes 52 and 173 and build a new fire station there, making it a municipal project. There was no burden on the taxpayer, as all the funding derived from the nonprofit’s account.

The nonprofit has contributed funds to the town fire department to purchase extrication equipment, as well as to help the town buy new firetrucks. Last year, Lincolnville bought a new $332,000 tanker, with 42 percent of that cost funded by the Lincolnville Volunteer Fire Department.

This year, the town’s fire department targeted the three-acre parcel on Beach Road for the possible site of a new station to service the coastal region of the town, saying the existing station at Lincolnville Beach is too small, and its land footprint too tight for adequate expansion of the fire station building. The Beach Road parcel, owned by Robert and Joyce Collemer, is 1.5 miles from Lincolnville Beach.

But at the special town meeting, neighbors of the Beach Road parcel criticized the fire department for not explaining to citizens more fully why it needed to relocate its Beach station.

Crystal Coombs requested a public hearing be held before voting on the article. She asked why the town needed two fire stations in a 3.5 mile radius.

Town Administrator David Kinney said the offer had been made by the fire department, the selectmen deemed it a good idea and approved the warrant article. The proposal also went to the town’s budget committee, which endorsed the article.

“What is the need to move away from busy Route 1,” asked Coombs.

“I believe you said the key word — busy,” said Peter Rollins, current president of the nonprofit’s board of directors.

He said that pulling into traffic with a firetruck on Route 1 is hard, and because the majority of emergency calls occur inland, the radius response time would be better at the Beach Road parcel.

“There are more accidents inland than on route 1,” asked Coombs.

“Yes,” said Rollins.

When asked if a new fire station would require planning board review, Kinney said: “The Town of Lincolnville is not exempt from its own rules. The same rules that apply to others apply to us.”

Any new fire station would undergo a site plan review, which would evaluate buffering, lighting, and good neighbor standards, he said.

Another resident said she moved to Lincolnville recently, acquiring property on Beach Road. She said she had been told the parcel now targeted for a fire station had been represented to her as conservation land. She advised keeping Beach Road as “friendly and as beautiful as Lincolnville is, not cluttered up with development.”

Resident Seth Brown asked why the town was committing to a piece of property before going through the process of determining if it is appropriate for a new fire station.

Kinney said the process is an attempt to be forward looking: “what’s going to happen in the future. The 2006 Comprehensive Plan designates this area of town as a growth area.”

Rollins said the town does not own the existing Beach station. The French estate has loaned it to the town in perpetuity; hwever, he said, the building is too small and not insulated.

“It is becoming a kind of a hazard for us,” he said.

The fire department has been scouting for new land for years, and its members have walked the Beach Road parcel.

“This is not some arbitrary decision,” he said. “This one works for us. We are not voting to build a new fire station. We are just putting this into the bank so there is an opportunity to build a fire station in the future. It’s worth $45,000 just to have it.”

Lincolnville resident Jim Sinclair questioned the location of fire department manpower and the wisdom of backing the station 1.5 miles off of Route 1.

Fire Chief Ben Hazen said there are firefighters at the Beach and in the Center, and they are often moving around town during the day.

“We can respond anywhere in this town,” he said. “Most response times are five to 10 minutes.”

Sinclair asked if the town would lose response time to the Beach by moving the station inland.

“Not necessarily,” said Hazen.

He and Rollins said that fire calls happen throughout the day, and most of the manpower comes from inland. They explained that the town also has a good mutual aid system with Northport and Camden.

Another firefighter said it is often easier to get to the Beach Road instead of Route 1 because of congestion along that highway.

Firefighter Don Fullington said the fire department would need a new building in order to fit any new truck into it.

Rollins said the Beach station needs a new roof and the floor is wearing out.

“A new truck can’t go in there,” he said.

As to when the fire department hopes to build a new station, he said: “Time-wise, we don’t know. It’s not next year.”

“Does the fire department have money for a new fire station,” asked one citizen.

“Yes,” said Rollins. “We want to get the land so we have the option.”

He added that the town is fortunate to have the nest egg that was given to the fire department.

“We try to take care of the town,” said Rollins.

“We have been fortunate that the Volunteer Fire Department has made substantial cash donations to the town over a period of time,” said Kinney. “The new fire station is a whole lot less than if you went out and borrowed money to build it.”

“We’re not looking at a huge building,” said Rollins. “I don’t want people thinking we’re putting a Walmart down there.”

 It was then that the conversation returned to the concern about a lack of notice about the vote.

“My only disappointment is that no one knew beforehand,” said Will Brown. “It was a cart before the horse presentation and that is the part that doesn’t feel good. It was a smaller group of people in the community who have gotten together and made decisions and then brought it to voters, but voters didn’t know until a few days ago.”

A motion was then made to hold a secret ballot vote on the article, but that failed. Moderator Duke then called for a show of hands for the original article, to accept the gift of $45,000. That resulted in the 42-18 vote.

After the special town meeting, the selectmen reconvened upstairs for a regularly scheduled meeting, whose agenda included signing monthly expenditure warrants.

 Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657