York Town News
Sharing more than a border: York and Kittery officials discuss issues
By Melissa Wood
KITTERY - With three shared borders, including one that has recently been called into question, a looming state-imposed school consolidation and a host of issues that have a regional impact, the towns of York and Kittery have a lot to talk about.
Members of the York Board of Selectmen and Kittery Town Council met Monday night, April 30, for a workshop at Kittery Town Hall to discuss their shared issues including workforce housing, mosquito and tick control, development, public health, water and sewer issues and shoreland protection.
Although school consolidation was not put on the table, the issue was at the forefront as both towns wait to see what will be handed down next from Augusta.
"Even with this latest form it seems that your town and ours will end up having to talk at some point," said Selectmen Chairman David Marshall.
Both the Town Council and Board of Selectmen will be meeting with their school committee this week to discuss how to deal with the state plan. As Selectmen Vice Chairman Dwight Bardwell pointed out, the schools account for 75 percent of the town's budget.
"It's such a huge trickle down," agreed Town Council Chairman Glenn Schwaery. "It hinges on what happens to the school consolidation. It's hard to move until we know what's going on with the school."
Both towns also face changing demographics with an increase in older residents and a decrease of young families moving in, a situation exacerbated by rising housing costs and, in York, a growth ordinance that has created about a 52-month wait for residential building permits. Kittery does not have a growth ordinance.
"Who in their right mind would want to bring kids into a school system where you have to wait for the kid's in high school before you can move in?" said Selectman Mike Estes.
Marshall said that since both York and Kittery are struggling with how to deal with the issue of workforce housing, it might be something they can solve together.
"What works for one town might work for the other," said Marshall.
Schwaery said that after going to a regional meeting involving all Seacoast municipalities, he noted a lot of disagreement on how the communities defined affordable housing. Portsmouth, N.H., for instance, defines it as 150 percent under the median house price. People from some towns wanted nothing to do with the issue.
"A guy from Rye said, 'Hey you created the low-wage jobs; it's your housing problems,'" Schwaery said.
Selectman Len Dorrian said coming to a consensus on workforce housing in York has also not been easy. He said there is a draft ordinance they hope to present to the voters in November but may have to wait until May for the voters.
"That's a big question," said Dorrian. "Do the voters in York really want affordable, workforce housing in their town?"
Another key issue was that, as Kittery looks toward future economic development, it has no choice but to look toward the York border.
"The part of town that's most undeveloped is our arc right along your border," said Schwaery. That area includes more businesses along Route 1 and more homes in the Payne Road area, where a subdivision is currently proposed that is in Kittery but can only be accessed by a road through York.
Councilor Frank Dennett brought up that the location of the border is also uncertain. He said he believed that the boundary in that area runs in a straight line from the triangle where Kittery, Eliot and York meet to the head of tide at Brave Boat Harbor. The only problem is that nobody knows where the head of tide is.
"We might attack it in the near future rather than letting future generations duke it out," said Dennett.
Marshall said he hoped the towns would be able to agree on a boundary without spending a lot of money.
"I was on the Planning Board for a dozen years and we had something similar with Ogunquit," he said. "It was worked out. They met our standards, Ogunquit was involved and it worked."
But some issues the group discussed were unaffected by boundary lines.
"Windborne and waterborne issues, they don't see the border," said Schwaery.
Marshall, who pointed out that issues such as mosquito and tick control would make little sense for one town to tackle but not the other, agreed.
"The rain that falls in Kittery goes through our rivers and vice versa," he said.
Both towns may look at a regional mosquito control options and collaborating on protection their watersheds.
"We have two watersheds that are actively being planned out and protected," said Kittery Town Manager Jonathan Carter. "Once those two watershed plans to begin to mature I think collaboration will kick in."
The group also discussed the possibility of sharing services, such as a health officer, a recreation center near the Route 1 border or a regional dispatch center in the new home of the York Police Department, when a new station is built.
York Town Manager Rob Yandow said the town hasn't had a medical officer for 10 to 15 years, said he has been talking with York Hospital in the hope of finding someone who can serve on an as-needed basis.
"When you run into a situation like Triple E in 2005 and the mosquito problem of last year, we have no one to turn to," he said. "We are really, I think, just biding time until something really bad happens, and we're going to need someone with that expertise."
Afterwards, Marshall said the meeting was a good sign that the two towns share a willingness to work together.
In at least one area the two towns are already working quite well together. Kittery Police Chief Edward Strong said he and York Police Chief Doug Bracy collaborate on a lot of things to save costs, such as detective service and training, or the departments will invest in different things and then share.
"I have a canine, you have an accident reconstructionist," he said. "Those are the types of things we work on continuously with York."
