York Town News
Selectmen hear about Augusta happenings, pool's future and more
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - The town's newest representatives to the Maine Legislature and the team behind a plan to bring a swimming complex to Bog Road have updated the Board of Selectmen on issues close to home and at the statehouse.At the board's meeting on Monday, Jan. 8, Sen. Peter Bowman, D-Kittery, joined District 150 Rep. Windol Weaver, R-York, and District 149 Rep. Dawn Hill, D-York, to share insight into what the town will be seeing at the legislative level in the term ahead.
Weaver was the first to take the podium, and referring to his lengthy tenure on the York Budget Committee, lightened the mood by telling the selectmen, "The scary thing is you probably know how I'm going to vote."
Weaver was quick to point out, however, that legislative service is a learning process, and he said he will work to be neutral and to listen and learn.
One issue Weaver sees as key in the term ahead is to support Legislative Document 1535, which Bowman has sponsored with Weaver and Hill as co-sponsors. The bill seeks to amend the state's new growth law to allow York to soften the blow of the mandated increase in residential building permits by taking into account exemptions that already exist at the local level.
"We feel that the state overstepped their bounds," Weaver said.
To see that bill succeed, Hill said later, will require the selectmen and the town to stand behind their legislators.
Weaver also highlighted two other bills, which he has filed at the request of constituents here in town: one to postpone a $31 million project to move the York tolls and one to freeze property taxes for longtime residents.
"If you lived in a town for 20 years and you attain age 70, we freeze your taxes at that level until you leave the home," he said of the substance of that proposed legislation.
The difference would be paid back to the town at the time the home is vacated by its owner.
"You'd think it's going to be slam-dunk, but there are going to be people voting against it," Weaver said, adding that a bill "may go in looking like a swan and come out looking like a duck."
Regarding the estimated $31 million cost of the toll plan, Weaver said a local voter requested a bill to stop that process for now as, "We could probably use the money some other way."
Hill said her primary focus in Augusta, based on discussions during the election, will be on taxes. She said the legislators will be looking for ways to meet with the selectmen and keep the town informed.
Bowman said his key goals for the term ahead are improving Maine's economy with a focus on taxes, spending and education.
"I think a growing number of people are getting that message," he said, adding, "There is a window of opportunity that we, as legislators, have … We have to drop this partisan stuff and really work together for the benefit of Maine."
Also at the meeting, the board heard from Ann Grinnell on effort to bring the Swim Center of Southern Maine to York. In May, voters approved requests to allow the selectmen to enter negotiations to bring a pool complex and a skating arena to a town-owned parcel of land on Bog Road.
"Where we're at right now is we have a $2 million project to build that swimming pool. It will be built by a combination of money from investors, from members and a bank loan," Grinnell told the board, adding the bank is ready to grant the $1 million loan once the investors and members are in place.
That is where the current problem exists, she said, as SCSM needs 200 members on board and currently has 53.
She said there is a myth in town that the project is only for the wealthy. The one-time membership price structure has been changed to make it possible for more people to afford memberships, she said. For a family of three, for example, the membership fee is $2,195 to join the center and, upon termination of the membership, half of the fee will be refunded. Full details on membership pricing and maintenance fees are available at the SCSM website, www.scsminc.com.
If people are waiting until the pool is built to join, Grinnell said, the project will not be able to move forward.
"There isn't going to be a later unless we get people on board," Grinnell said.
Also at the first meeting of 2007, Town Manager Rob Yandow told the board that the town's first resource protection officer has been hired.
Casey Dalton, formerly of the Wells Reserve, brings familiarity with the town as well as experience and education in environmental sciences to the post, Yandow said, adding, "We're really excited about that."
Yandow also noted work is continuing with local emergency personnel to address parade safety after tragic accidents last year in Portsmouth, N.H., and in Freeport.
The selectmen approved several committee appointments. Diane Binger, Tina Lafleur-Johnson and Rozanna Patane received the board's unanimous endorsement to serve on the Affordable Housing Committee, which will work with the selectmen and the York Housing Authority, while Bob Cutts was appointed to the Historic District Commission, also with the board's full support.
Looking to the year ahead, Selectmen Chairman David Marshall said the board is planning to develop joint meetings with various town committees to strive to work together for the best interest of York's residents.
