Town meeting ‘Super March’ kicks off this weekend

Mon, 03/03/2014 - 8:45am

Ethan Andrews

Town meeting season starts this coming weekend. Saturday marks the beginning of a run of annual town meetings in March. Many municipalities hold elections prior to the meeting. Poll times are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Check with your town office for details. Here are this week’s elections and town meetings:

Searsport municipal elections and RSU 20 withdrawal vote will be held March 4. The annual town meeting will be March 7 at 9 a.m. at the Searsport District High School Gym.

On Tuesday voters will choose two members for the town’s Board of Selectmen from among four declared candidates, including incumbents Richard Desmarais and Doug Norman, and challengers John Merrithew and Travis Otis. Additionally, ten candidates are running for nine openings for the Budget Advisory Committee. Dustin Nadeau, is running for the seat on the RSU 20 Board of Directors currently held by James Cunningham.

A separate ballot asks Searsport voters if favor filing a petition for withdrawal from Regional School Unit 20. A ‘yes’ vote would officially start the process. The final withdrawal plan would be subject to another referendum vote. Currently all eight municipalities in the school district are in some stage of pursuing withdrawal.

Only Searsport and Stockton Springs have not yet voted to start the process. Stockton Springs voters will take up the question at a special referendum, March 25.

Palermo municipal elections will be held March 6. The annual town meeting will be held Saturday, March 7, at 9 a.m. at the Palermo Consolidated School.

Swanville municipal elections will also be held March 6. Town Clerk Helen Christianson is running unopposed for re-election. Clifton Sawyer is seeking a 5 year term on the Planning Board. Cindy Boguen has a challenger in Brian Thompson as she seeks re-election to the Board of Selectmen for a three-year term. In another contested race, Real Estate Tax Collector Laurie Johnson is running for re-election against challenger Ruth Gale.

The annual town meeting in Swanville will be held Saturday, March 7 at 10 a.m. at the Kermit Nickerson School.

The following week (March 14 and 15), elections and town meetings will be held in Burnham, Jackson, Knox, Morrill and Thorndike.

The Belfast City Council meets on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at City Hall for a regular meeting. Agenda topics include a change to waterfront zoning that would allow restaurants to have more seating without requiring additional parking; consideration of an idea for the city to build a “cargo incubator” with a loading dock in the Business Park at which area businesses could rent storage space. Read the city managers full report, here.

The Belfast Planning Board continues to debate whether to allow smaller lot sizes, more multifamily houses and additional lots subject to contract rezoning inside the bypass. A workshop will be held Wednesday, March 5 at 6 p.m. at City Hall. The meeting is open to public, but closed to public comment. Any zoning changes would ultimately need to be approved by the City Council.

Searsport Selectmen hold their regular meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Town Office/Union Hall. Read the agenda here.

Contact Ethan Andrews at news@penbaypilot.com