The
South Berwick Citizen
An
unofficial website for South Berwick, Maine
www.southberwickcitizen.org
Archive of Town Council Meetings
Archive of Planning Board Meetings
Next
Town Council Meeting is Monday June 13, 2005 at 6:30 p.m.
Click
here for a schedule of upcoming meetings of the Town Council.
Planning
Board meets at 7:00
p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.
School
Board meets at 7:00 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of each month.
To readers of the South Berwick Citizen:
WE NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU
Three and a half years ago a group of South Berwick residents started this web site to shed some light into the dark recesses of our town’s government. We began showing up at Town Council meetings with a tape recorder and note pads, and then reported what we saw and heard in weekly on-line columns. At that time very few citizens attended Council meetings. Those who did were usually greeted with hostile stares from town officials. If a citizen found the courage to ask a question about town business the answer was often evasive and misleading. It was not uncommon for the Council to hold virtually no public debate before voting on major issues. Read
New Reports and Commentary:
Conservation
and Open Space, Powder
House Hill Snow Mobile,
Possible Sewers for Great Works Drive,
Jack Karekas Resigns
Town
Council Meeting - February 28, 2005
Planning
Board Meeting - March 15, 2005
MSAD
35
Budget Increase for 2005-2006
School
Year
MSAD
35 School Board Meeting - March 16, 2005
Citizen Commentary
We Welcome Your Letters and Comments!
Bulletin
Board
Democracy and Dessert
with Pat Colwell - Chair Maine Democratic Party
Saturday, June 4, 6-8 p.m.,
South Berwick Town Hall, 3rd Floor
2004
Election Results
Look
at how South Berwick citizens cast their votes
To readers of the South Berwick Citizen:
WE NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU
Three and a half years ago a group of South Berwick residents started this web site to shed some light into the dark recesses of our town’s government. We began showing up at Town Council meetings with a tape recorder and note pads, and then reported what we saw and heard in weekly on-line columns. At that time very few citizens attended Council meetings. Those who did were usually greeted with hostile stares from town officials. If a citizen found the courage to ask a question about town business the answer was often evasive and misleading. It was not uncommon for the Council to hold virtually no public debate before voting on major issues.
Today it’s a very different story. Council meetings are well attended by the public, and citizens are given ample opportunity to express their views. There is lively debate on all manner of issues, large and small. The crowd that ran town government just a few years ago has largely been replaced; the membership of the Council has changed significantly and we have a new town manager.
The South Berwick Citizen has changed too. We have added reports on the Planning Board and the School Board, along with a community calendar, election results and citizen commentaries.
The volunteer writers and editors of this web site are proud of the role we have played in bringing greater openness to South Berwick town government. We certainly can’t take all the credit, but we firmly believe that this web site has helped revive the spirit and practice of democracy in our town. One result of these dramatic changes is that the reasons we started the web site are not as critical as they once were. As a result we have asked ourselves whether the web site should continue, and if so, in what form?
That’s where you come in. We need to hear from you, our readers. What do you like about the South Berwick Citizen? Is it valuable to you? What would you like to change? What would cause you to use this resource more often? Would you like more community calendar listings, feature stories, commentaries? Would you be interested in contributing to the web site.
Tell us what you really think. If we don’t hear from you we may simply decide to pull the plug. Contact us at sbcitizen.sbcitizen@verizon.net
Thank you,
Rachel Schumacher, Mimi Demers, Amy Miller,
Kathy Gunst, Barbara Boggiano, Bill Varner, John Rudolph
posted March 15, 2005
February 28, 2005
Town Council Meeting
By Mimi Demers
Conservation and Open Space
At the Town Council meeting of February 28, 2005, an informational presentation was given by Roger Cole, coordinator of the Mt. Agamenticus to the Sea Conservation Initiative. With him was Keith Fletcher from the southern Maine office of the Nature Conservancy. Mr. Cole defined his organization's makeup as ten conservation groups, including: The Nature Conservancy, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge, Maine Inland Fish and Wildlife Service, Trust for Public Lands, York Land Trust, Great Works Regional Land Trust, Kittery Land Trust, York River Association, and Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve. Mr. Cole emphasized the importance of taking a regional approach to the issues of open space and conservation. He spoke about federal grant money, to be used for planning, which has become available as a result of local towns being willing to work together. He described work being done to conserve "cultural landscapes" and "working landscapes," such as forests, farms, and waterfronts. Mr. Fletcher spoke about the recent purchase by the Nature Conservancy of about 200 acres between Belle Marsh and Earls Roads formerly owned by Andrew Patterson. This piece, of importance because of the data indicating the existence of a healthy population of the endangered Blandings' turtles, adds to the broad network of lands which, according to Mr. Fletcher, make up the largest unfragmented coastal forest between Acadia National Park and the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
A Snowmobile for Powder House Hill
Citizen and former councilor David Webster spoke on behalf of the Powder House Hill Committee. The committee had asked, at the last council meeting, for approval of the Committee's purchase of a snowmobile for use at the facility, which operates a tow rope for skiers and snowboarders. At that time, some council members had balked at the idea, voicing concerned about insurance and liability issues. Mr. Webster said he was there to address any "unanswered questions...We have a long-standing good relationship with the council," he said. "I see this as just a little bump in the road." He spoke of the hard work on the part of the volunteers. Another committee member pointed out the facility had already made a profit of about $4900 for the town so far this year. The council, after only brief discussion, approved the purchase.
Sewers for Great Works Drive?
In response to a letter from citizen Jerry Leavitt, Council members suggested bringing the issue of sewers on Great Works Drive "back to the table" at a future workshop with the Sewer District. The district has voted against the installation of sewers there, but several council members felt it may be a worthwhile project, since the existing systems are 25 years old.
Karekas Resignation "Regretfully" Accepted
The council "regretfully" accepted the resignation of Jack Karekas from the Powder House Hill Committee, the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, and the Zoning Board of Appeals.
March 15, 2005
Planning Board Meeting
By Rachel Schumacher
The South Berwick Planning
Board agreed a four-lot subdivision on Hooper Sands Road should have sidewalks
on one side of the road, as recommended by Public Works Director Terry
Oliver.
The board made this decision after
a workshop March 15 for the Green property on Hooper Sands Road. Tom Harmon
of Civil Consultants representative the Greens. The Greens, who have since
passed away, deeded an easement to the Great Works Regional Land Trust
and left the remaining land to their four children, who want to subdivide
it into four lots. Oliver had sent a memo to the board recommending the
sidewalks.
The board also conducted a workshop
that night for a proposal for the Parmley property located on Railroad
Avenue. Harmon, who also represented this applicant, said, "originally
the property was owned by the railroad. The Board of Trade in town purchased
it from the Railroad for commercial enterprise."
Mr. Harmon said the property owners
are planning to put in 11 units, 30 by 40 feet apiece. Each unit would
have an overhead door and two parking spaces. The property is located
in the B-1 zone which requires no setbacks or frontage and the units would
have public water and sewer.
Planning Board member Dennis Smith
suggested the board conduct a site walk. The board agreed to do the walk
March 29.
The board reviewed an application
for a single family dwelling on Belle Marsh Road in the Shoreland Zone.
Eric Bergendahl told the board that when he purchased his property a couple
of years ago, the town Code Enforcement office told him there were 100-foot
setbacks from the Hoopers' brook. This year, he said, he was told the
setbacks were 250 feet.
Beavers have created dams in the
brook which have raised the water level and now the brook and the swamp
appear as one large body of water.
Bergendahl said he and his family
have spent a lot of time and money clearing the property based on the
100-foot setback and wondered what he should do now that the setbacks
were 250 feet.
The board recommended the applicant
hire a wetland soil scientist to determine where the wetlands actually
are.
The board appointed Chairman David
Burke to serve on the town's new Economic Development Committee.
posted
March 23, 2005
March 16, 2005
MSAD 35 School Board
By Bill Varner
The proposed
school budget for the South Berwick/Eliot district is 7 percent more than
the current year's budget, Interim Superintendent Tim McCormack told the
board in a meeting this month. McCormick said the proposed budget for
the 2005-2006 school year would be about $1.5 million more than the current
year, for a total budget of $22,882,516, if it is passed as proposed.
The proposed budget includes an expected
increase of $820,000 in 2005-2006 for the new teacher contract. It also
assumes rising fuel, transportation, and electrical costs.
After payroll increases, new requests represented
the largest increases at $263,000, with special education costs proposed
to increase by $195,000. The new requests included 10 computers for the
middle school and junior high as well as licenses for a new software program,
Plato, that would be used to help students who need extra help in math
and reading.
Three educational technicians would need
to be added to manage the computer labs at the middle school, junior high,
and high school. The budget also includes leasing laptops for all ninth
grade students and teachers. In addition, a new part-time kindergarten
teacher, a district business manager, and a new special education teacher
were added.
In special education, the district is now
paying for three students who required placement outside the district.
"This was very expensive," McCormack
said. "The district also needed to hire two new educational technicians
to work with a growing number of special education students. "
The district administration rejected
the positions of library/media specialist at the middle school, and a
technology position and social worker at Marshwood High School. A facilities
department maintenance position was also turned down, as well as $230,000
worth of upgrades to facilities.
Based on the current mill rate of
8.26 for Eliot and South Berwick, the proposed 2005-2006 budget will need
to raise an additional $1.2 million. Eliot now pays 56.95 percent of local
tax revenues pays 56.95 percent of the amount collected by the two towns
for education, and South Berwick pays 43.05%.
In a 90-minute presentation, McCormack
outlined the five priorities reflected in the budget, presented an overview
of the new state school funding system called Essential Programs and Services
(ESP), and presented the highlights of the proposed budget.
Drawing on his 18 years of experience
doing budgets, McCormack said he began with three assumptions: first,
a budget must reflect the educational values of the district; second,
priorities must be established because not everything can be funded, and
third, a budget must build consistency and continuity across the K-12
grade span.
Requests from principals should take
into account the administrative priorities, he said. These are:
-interventions to help students meet
standards.
-a coordinated technology plan for
the district.
-facilities planning and capital planning.
-professional development, especially
for the grades 4-12 literacy
project.
-maintaining existing class size.
Explaining the funding formulas for
the new Essential Programs and Services is "like wandering into a
swamp," McCormack said. The EPS model was passed in 2003, six years
after lawmakers asked the State Board of Education to develop a new funding
model for the new Maine Learning Results. The program will be first put
in place for the 2005-2006 school year.
In funding schools and districts, the program
considers teacher experience and education level, a region's cost of living,
and desired class sizes.According to McCormack, the main goal of the program
is "to insure that all schools have the programs and services that
are essential if all students are to have equitable educational opportunities
to achieve Maine's Learning Results."
EPS is not fully funded this year,
McCormack said. The district is slated to receive 84 percent of the EPS
figure, about $1 million less than what the district would receive with
full funding. The program is expected to be fully funded by 2009.
Superintendent Search
After interviewing three candidates for the job of superintendent, the School Board has decided to readvertise the position. Board Chair Helene Cass told the board and public that none of the three candidates interviewed was determined to a be a "good fit" for the district. Cass said job announcements will be sent to every district in the state.
"Subsidized Day Care"
Resident Richard Young of South Berwick
challenged the board's presentation last month of an all-day kindergarten
pilot program. He noted that the committee said 45 percent of survey respondents
in the district were in favor of all-day kindergarten, and that the number
dropped to 33 percent if it meant eliminating the pre-K program. He noted
that these figures were presented in a positive light, when they did not
represent the majority opinion to not have all-day kindergarten. He urged
the board to consider this fact when voting on the pilot program and stated
that if the board chooses to have the program "we would then in effect
have state and local subsidized daycare."
posted November 3, 2004
2004 Election Results in South Berwick
Presidential Election:
Bush won reelection.
John
F. Kerry: 2,171 votes
George W. Bush: 1,842 votes
United States Congress - 1st District:
Allen defended his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Thomas Allen: 2,211 votes
Charles Summers: 1,535 votes
Maine State Senate:
Andrews won this race.
Mary Andrews: 2,014 votes
John O'Brien: 1,855 votes
Maine House of Representatives - District 146:
Brown defended his seat in the Maine House.
Adam Scharff: 1,334 votes
Dick Brown: 1,204 votes
Maine House of Representatives - District 148:
Lewin defended her seat in the Maine House.
Sally Lewin: 688 votes
Arnold Paul: 663 votes
Town Council:
Michelle Kareckas and Norma Tutelian captured
the two open Town Council seats. This marks the first time women will
hold the majority on the five-member body.
Michelle Karekas: 2,228
votes
Norma Tutelian: 1,614 votes
Ralph Stevens: 1,311 votes
Cliff Cleary: 1,304 votes
SAD 35 Board of Directors:
Ellen Breed defended her seat on the School Administrative
District 35 board of directors.
Ellen Breed: 1,760 votes
Karen Mayo Doyle: 1,592
Question 1 (Limit property taxes to 1%):
This ballot initiative was defeated statewide.
Yes: 1,602 votes
No: 2,330 votes
Ban Bear Baiting:
This was defeated statewide.
Yes: 2,160 votes
No: 1,797 votes
Schedule of Upcoming
Town Council Meetings
All
meetings are in the South Berwick Town Hall,
180 Main St., 2nd floor. The phone number for the Town offices is (207)
384-3300.
May 23 , 2005 (Monday): 6:30 p.m. Town Council Meeting