York, Maine voters approve $7.3 million Town Hall project and more
YORK, Maine — Voters approved a $7.298 million renovation and expansion of the historic Town Hall in Saturday’s election.
The town has been working for nearly a century on how to renovate or replace Town Hall, which has been located at the center of town since the 1600s. Town Manager Steve Burns said Article 44 was the fifth attempt at such a project to go before voters since about the 1930s. The vote was 1,753-818.
The town voted on a total 74 articles, including the town and school budgets, as well six elections, four of them contested. Voters also rejected a moratorium on new cellular towers, passed an article renaming the Board of Selectmen with gender neutral language and approved the six new full-time positions the town requested.
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IT systems and applications analyst ($107,853 salary), an additional town planner ($79,713 salary), a new emergency dispatcher ($56,000 salary), a full-time harbormaster ($46,634 salary) and two additional firefighters (up to $100,000 each with benefits included).
Burns made the case ahead of Saturday's vote the hires were necessary to keep the town’s services running smoothly. The Fire Department has not seen its staffing increase since 1985, while the town has grown significantly since then.
York's elected offices winners
In the elections, incumbent Selectman Mike Estes defeated political newcomer Eric Goldberg in one of four contested races Saturday. Estes, owner of Estes Oil and Propane, has served 12 years on the board. He said during his campaign he wanted to protect taxpayers by managing inflation both in property values and in the town budget.
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Goldberg, a driver for Franman Transportation, said in his campaign he wanted to address a lack of cell service in town, extend the sewer line up Route 1 and address garbage on the side of the road, among other issues.
Robert Hover and Julie A. Kelbert won two seats in a four-way race for School Committee, the seats each being for three years. John T. Daquila and Christine N. Hartwell each won a seat on the Budget Committee, while Nancy Graves was elected treasurer.
Cell tower moratorium fails
Article 68 sought a moratorium on cellphone towers in the town of York that would last six months, extendable by the Board of Selectmen if passed. It failed with a vote of 1,410 to 1,104. The article was put forth after members of the York Heights neighborhood expressed concern about towers going up and potentially causing health effects of radiofrequency radiation. The Board of Selectmen voted against recommending the article.
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Voters passed Article 69 sought to change the town's Board of Selectmen to a new name, Selectboard, which is gender neutral. The proposal came to the board last year from the town’s Committee to Combat Racism and Bias as an effort to improve gender inclusivity in local government. Burns said he recommended the change because the current name does not fall in line with the board’s Proclamation Against Racism, Discrimination and Bigotry, which was enacted in July 2020.
Max Sullivan contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: York Maine 2022 election results: Voters approve Town Hall project
