Kennebunkport, Wells, Sanford and York: What’s on the Nov. 7 ballot

YORK COUNTY, Maine — Will Kennebunkport be getting a brand-new town hall within the next couple of years?

Will the position of town clerk go from an elected post to an appointed one in Wells?

Will incumbents on the Sanford City Council get to keep their seats, or will a couple of newcomers on the ballot oust them instead?

These three questions and others will be answered Tuesday, Nov. 7, when voters head to the polls in communities throughout the York Weekly and York County Coast Star coverage area.

Here is a glimpse of what voters can expect when they have their hometown ballots in hand.

Kennebunkport seeks new $8.8M town hall

The proposed new town hall is the big-ticket item on the ballot for Kennebunkport voters Nov. 7. The town is asking voters to authorize up to $8.8 million to build and equip a new town hall to replace the current one that has operated on Elm Street for more than 60 years.

If proposed offsets succeed, the town would need to bond approximately $6.3 million of the project’s estimated $8 million-plus price tag.

If approved, the town hall would be built on land located within the Village Parcel on North Street. Construction would start in the summer of 2024 and be completed by the end of that year, officials said.

A must-do or a bit overdone? Kennebunkport’s town hall dilemma

Another question on the ballot asks voters to approve selling an 8-acre parcel on School Street, so that the proceeds could be used to offset the town hall project’s cost. If voters reject the town hall question, however, the School Street parcel property will not be sold.

Other questions on the municipal ballot seek to use $710,000 from the town’s capital reserve fund to go toward the repair and reconstruction of the Cape Porpoise Pier; to allow an easement for the Green Marine Corporation to continue to use the railway associated with the town’s newly acquired land on Langsford Road; and to authorize ownership of the Cape Porpoise Fire Station to the Kennebunkport Select Board for $1.

For more information about these questions, please visit the town’s official website.

Polls in Kennebunkport will be open at the Village Fire Station at 32 North Street on Nov. 7 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Wells voters to decide on town clerk, YCCC housing

When voters report to the polls on Nov. 7, they will decide whether to make the position of town clerk an appointed one and whether to create a College District Zone at York County Community College.

The town is seeking to change the status of the town clerk position so that it can advertise for it and canvass a larger pool of candidates, as opposed to hoping someone from Wells will run for the post during an election.

York County Community College is seeking the new zoning to explore the possibility of on-campus housing. YCCC currently does not offer that accommodation and instead has an agreement with a local hotel that allows students to live there during a semester – an arrangement the college appreciates but creates complications due to the need to comply with town ordinances.

Student housing on the horizon? York County Community College eyes dorms on campus

For more information, please visit the town's official website.

Polls will be open at the Wells Junior High School gymnasium at 1470 Post Road from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Sanford City Council incumbents face challengers

Sanford voters will decide two contested City Council races on Nov. 7.

Incumbent Deputy Mayor Maura Herlihy and incumbent City Councilor John Martell are running to keep their positions for another term, while challenger Oliver Jones III is hoping to claim one of those two three-year seats that are available.

As well, incumbent City Councilor Nathaniel Hitchcock is hoping voters will let him finish the term he was appointed to earlier this year. He is facing challenges from two opponents, David Gomes and Victor DiGregorio. Hitchcock was selected for the seat after its previous occupant, Becky Brink, was elected mayor last November.

There also is a trio of uncontested races elsewhere on the city ballot.

School Committee Chair Paula Cote and member Amy Sevigny are both unchallenged in their bids to be reelected to new, three-year terms.

Incumbent Roland Cote is also unchallenged for the position of trustee of the Sanford Water District.

Lastly, incumbents Keith Patterson and Nathaniel Hitchcock are unchallenged in their bids for three more years as trustees of the Sanford Sewerage District.

Polls in Sanford will be open in all three wards from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 7. Voters in Ward 1 will vote at the Nasson Community Center gym at 457 Main Street in Springvale; in Ward 2, at the Sanford Christian Academy Campus at 25 Riverside Avenue; and in Ward 3, at Sanford High School and Technical Center at 100 Alumni Boulevard.

Nobile vs. Ferraro for Ogunquit Budget Board

Voters will weigh in on a single contested Budget Review Committee race when they fill out their ballots on Nov. 7. Incumbent Committee Secretary Christopher Nobile and challenger Barbara Ferraro are seeking to complete an unfinished term.

From there, voters will have a number of housekeeping articles to settle on the town meeting warrant.

There are two articles seeking amendments to the town’s solid waste and zoning ordinances, for example.

The town also is asking for voters to approve $641,000 in assorted appropriations from unassigned funds for needs related to the harbor and the police, fire and public works departments, and more.

The town also is asking voters to allow the repurposing of the Main Beach Trolley Stop Capital Improvement Project to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Beach Project. The proposal calls for a transfer of approximately $67,000 from one project to the other.

For more information about the town’s municipal ballot, please visit Ogunquit’s official website.

Polls will be open at the Town Office on Nov. 7 at 23 School Street from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Kennebunk asks voters to raise the debt limit

Kennebunk voters will decide whether to change the debt limit of the Kennebunk Sewer District from $30 million to $55 million.

To learn more, please visit the town's website.

Polls will be open at the Kennebunk Town Hall’s auditorium, located at 1 Summer Street, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Zoning, housekeeping issues on the ballot in York

York voters will address four articles on their municipal ballot. Two of them seek to make amendments to the town's zoning ordinance.

Article 1 modifies the ordinance to clarify procedures that developers must follow to obtain approval for an open space conservation subdivision application, according to the town’s Voter Information Guide. The amendment would also ensure that wooded or vegetated buffers are established between public ways and any proposed open space conservation development.

Article 2 repeals a zoning ordinance section that established a Site Design Review and Board of Design review for non-residential projects in certain districts, according to the voter guide.

Articles 3 and 4 ask the town to accept fee simple titles to two roads, Jordan's Path and Dory Drive. The roads were built by private developers, and voters are being asked to accept them as town roads.

Polls will be open on Nov. 7 at the York High School gymnasium at 1 Robert Stevens Drive from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kennebunkport, Wells, Sanford and York: What’s on the Nov. 7 ballot