York Town News
Town Hall talk continues
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - Just days before the Board of Selectmen scheduled its public hearing on the proposed budget and ballot items for the May election, the Budget Committee used its preference vote provision to oppose plans for a new Town Hall in York Village.Although the Budget Committee previously agreed to forward the approximately $6.5 million request to fund construction of the new municipal complex to the voters, the members voted on Thursday, March 8, that they will advise residents to vote against the project.
The vote was 4-2 against the proposal, with Chairman Greg Orso and Mike Quinn in support of the plan and Nancy Eaton, Lin Napier, Greg Filias and David Lincoln in opposition.
When the selectmen met on Monday, March 12, they did not specifically discuss that vote, but did update members of the public on the Town Hall proposal prior to scheduling public hearings on that - and all ballot items - for March 26.
Selectmen Chairman David Marshall pointed out that the proposal has come forward in keeping with the Comprehensive Plan's direction that Town Hall should stay in the village. He pointed out that the voters approved the purchase of about six acres of land adjacent to Coventry Hall on Long Sands Road last May.
Selectman Len Dorrian said that while the town's timeline for building needed capital projects may not be everybody's ideal plan, the Capital Planning Committee agreed to propose Town Hall this year and a police station next year as a consensus decision.
"We made the commitment that when we left that room … we'd all go out and support it," he said, adding the committee's decision to support its plan came before the specific priorities were set.
Selectman Mike Estes added that the need for both Town Hall and the police station came out first and second on the list every time.
"The reason the police station isn't first is because we didn't find the land and secure the land," he said, adding, "The message is, do we want to do this over a gradual period … or wait and do $14 million next year? We desperately need a Town Hall; we desperately need a police station. … This board has brought this thing the closest it has ever been."
Marshall noted the town is continuing to explore parcels of land for a new police station.
Estes added it is the Board of Selectmen's role to set policy for the town, not the Budget Committee's job to decide which project should come first.
Later in the meeting, the selectmen accepted, with regret, Eaton's resignation from the Budget Committee due to family and work reasons. Eaton's resignation will go into effect the day before the May election to allow the remainder of her term to be filled without a special election.
The Budget Committee was scheduled to hold its second public hearing on the proposed fiscal 2008 budgets Tuesday evening, March 13. No information was available at press time.
Also looking to the May election, selectmen voted Monday that proposed changes to the Residential Growth Ordinance, as submitted by Town Planner Steve Burns several weeks ago to bring the local ordinance into compliance with changes in state law, should be moved forward to the March 26 public hearing.
The board had previously discussed changing the proposal based on provisions for affordable housing, but decided not to make that move at this time.
"There is a committee that's been formed … Perhaps the selectmen could, maybe, expand the role of that committee … and take a comprehensive look at this over the next three to five months," Estes said of the need for workforce housing in York. "… We just want to do it right."
Dorrian agreed, citing the "law of unintended consequences" with changes to the ordinance, and supported a plan to give the new committee time to address the issues.
"I'm confident that, if given the right time and support of the selectmen, I think we'll come up with a good product," he said of the need for workforce housing. "… Whatever we're doing now we're not doing right, because we have zero."
In other business, Town Manager Rob Yandow updated the board on the progress for the replacement of the Passaconaway Bridge over the Cape Neddick River that was destroyed last May in the Mother's Day flood. The work is on schedule, Yandow said, with the bridge deck expected to be in place by the end of this week. The goal is to have the bridge open by Memorial Day.
Yandow also announced that Code Enforcement Inspector Tom James has resigned from his post for family reasons and Kathryn Newell, a fully certified inspector who assisted the office last year, has been hired to replace him.
The board has also endorsed the ongoing effort to build a community playground adjacent to the Bog Road athletic fields. The effort is being funded through grants, donations and fundraisers, including a St. Patrick's Day Family Dance this Friday, March 16, at Village Elementary School from 6 to 7:30 p.m. For more information on that, call York Parks and Recreation at 363-1040.
