Some of the news coverage of the events in South Berwick:
Notice posted on South Berwick’s web site
The Business Office will reopen Thursday March 27th at 9 am for regular business. We expect to be able to process all transactions at that time. Thank you for your patience.
South Berwick to be back in business
Foster’s Daily Democrat
Starting Thursday at 9 am, residents will be able to register their cars, pay their taxes, even get tags for their dogs…
S. Berwick: Town shuts down
Foster’s Daily Democrat
In the wake of South Berwick Town Manager Jeffrey Grossman’s resignation last week, the town is closed for business until councilors find an…
South Berwick petition seeks removal process for councilors
Foster’s Daily Democrat
Upset with the recent actions of the Town Council, five residents have started a petition to amend the Town Charter to allow for the removal of councilor…
It has been alleged — unfairly — that the town councilors sought the town manager’s removal for arbitrary reasons. Because of laws governing business undertaken in executive sessions, the councilors have had to be cautious, and have made few public statements defending their actions, even in the face of harsh criticism.
Before coming to a judgment that the councilors acted against the public interest, we should look deeper and examine the record.
In an article by David Ramsay on SeacoastOnline.com today, town councilor Michelle Kareckas is quoted as explaining that an important factor leading to her request for the manager’s resignation was his failure to prepare the town budget as directed by the council for the upcoming fiscal year.
The article quotes Kareckas and reads: “‘In December we asked the manager to give us two budgets, one was the budget, one was an appendix to it: how he would increase the budget with the things that he thought were necessary. The budget we get in February — now that gives us one month to deal with it — was [a] huge increase. It was not what we asked for.’”
The article continued, “Grossman has consistently said he was never asked for a separate budget.”
However town records show otherwise. The official minutes of December 10, 2007, posted on the town website, read: “Ms. [Town Council Chair Suzanne] Roberge:…[a]sked the Council to give the Manager direction regarding the upcoming budget. Consensus was to schedule a workshop. Proposing two budgets, one overriding LD1 and one staying within the cap, was suggested. The initial feeling was to stay within the cap…”
The budget situation seems to be just one of several issues at play. Before passing judgment against the councilors, such close readings of the record, and the many factors that came together and led to the manager’s departure, are warranted.
Please, you don’t ask for the town managers resignation over such minuscule procedure missteps. If it was that important the council chair Sue Roberge would have agreed. The fact of the matter is that these three councilors took it upon themselves to remove their opposition to gain the majority with no forethought of the consequences.
The preparation and presentation of the budget, especially one far out of balance, is not a matter of miniscule procedure. And apparently it was one issue out of a long series of problems. Anyway, my point wasn’t to lay out a full case, but to express the likelihood that the record may hold evidence of a lot of problems that haven’t been apparent on the surface, and which the councilors still feel constrained about discussing.
Ken,
Ken, you say that “three councilors took it upon themselves to remove their opposition to gain the majority with no forethought of the consequences.” Isn’t the town manager supposed to work for the councilors and not the other way around?
john, I would rather say the town manager is supposed to work with the councilors and come to a consensus for the good of the town.
richard clough there is a reason he was not voted back in, and no matter how hard he tries to sneak in the back door hopefuly he will never be again.
I think it would be better on this blog if we didn’t get into this kind of personal attack.
the manager was asked to come in with two budgets. which is against the law and a complete waste of time and effort.they asked for a high and a low budget.gee,i wonder which one they would approve.
molly, i thought we were suppose to be kind to people.remember? mary seems to be taking big jabs at named individuals.i hope this site is not getting slanted.
tim,
When you refer to “the three councillors”, or “some of teh councillors”. is there any question who, by name, you are referring to? Come on. What’s good for the goose……………
Responding to Tim: It is easy to have things go ballistic on a website like this. That’s why I ask for everyone to do the following on the web site:
From the terms of use page:
“Be civil. I named this the 236 diner with the idea that participants will act as they would if they were at a real diner. Attack ideas, not people. No using this to spread rumors about people. No threats of violence against others.”
Also regarding the need for a library:
Here’s an article from the paper:
As economy struggles, more people rely on libraries
Many people rely on libraries, not only for books, but for computers, access to the internet, and borrowing DVD’s that they cannot afford. If we do not have a library, it will hurt those who can least afford some of the things that it offers.
This article talks about how people who had to shut off their internet service are using the library internet and how people use the library resources to look for jobs.
I believe there is a library in South Berwick isnt there….
Mark–
I was responding to Tim’s question about why we still need a library now that people have the internet.
We have 1,600 square feet on the ground floor of a house – it’s not an adequate facility for a town of this size – but judging by the large numbers of people who use it, and the hundreds of South Berwick residents who pay (up to $100/yr.) to use surrounding libraries, I’d say that it is a service that many folks in South Berwick value – a lot.
Gee whiz, the town is well over budget for road maintenance, we will be receiving less funding for our schools (I heard we need to cut a $1 million from the budget), and we just bought out our town manager for over $100,000 without 1) knowing the full extent of the work he was doing, 2) not having a plan in place after he left, and 3) knowing where we will be getting the money to pay the new employees. Regardless of the reasons for the resignation or any inter-council conflicts, our property taxes will likely go up significantly while the economy is declining. This is enough to anger any South Berwick resident, and will produce many hardships for those who cannot afford these increases. The council better be prepared to take a lot of heat, cause its gonna come.
Anger isn’t justified, because (1) the town manager’s buyout was minute compared to our overall budget problem, which his mismanagement helped cause; (2) the “plan in place” is simply to replace the manager, as we have always done in the past, no problem; and (3) is the same as (1).
To blow up issues plays into the hands of those trying to exploit the situation. They want everyone to be angry, angry, angry. The manager left us with a bunch of problems, and now they are running with the situation and having a field day.
But take a look at the towns around us– Eliot, Kittery, the other Berwicks. We are all in the same boat on these economic and budget issues. The towns that make out best will be the ones who buckle down, make needed cuts, adjust and move on. The present town council knows this. The sooner we get to the task the better off we will be.
The big problem I have with the library issue is that we are already way over budget, and really shouldn’t be spending that kind of money right now.
You can argue that we would be paying for it over time, but it still will end up costing too much at this time.
Since there is a very nice library in the new high school we have payed for, why do we not look into using that on the weekends and after school hours?
Each of our schools has a library that could potentially be used by the community. This would of course mean that any internet useage would need to meet school standards as far as pornography and such, but that should not be a hardship.
The point I’m tryuing to make is that we are already paying for these libraries, but are not at this time using them to their full potential.
Hi Dave,
I’d like to speak to this as I’ve worked along with a lot of other folks toward expanding the library for the past ten years –
I think the moment when we could have expanded our town library in an affordable way has passed for the time being – it was sidetracked about five years ago, building costs and such have sky-rocketed since, and so we have to pause for the time being. The Library Advisory Board did not ask the town to explore the St. Michael’s property, the town wanted to evaluate several possibilities for that property. the library was one of those possibilities. An adequate library is not a luxury for a town, but an essential tool for a democratic society – equal access to information and all that (won’t get on my soap box here – but will say that I also think that providing a good library for it’s members is one of the most positive things a community does for itself.) I KNOW it’s an expense, times are hard, and so we pause – but we don’t stop altogether. The Friends of the Library will continue to support our vital little library, we’ll continue to make all it has to offer more evident and available, and we will continue to fundraise for when the moment to build comes. And we’ll hope to use the advantage that this time has given us – five years ago we were not aware of how important it is to build green – we’ve since learned that it’s the only thing that makes economic sense for municipalities. It costs Portsmouth less to heat their huge new facility than it did to heat the little, older space they moved out of.
Also – about using the school libraries – the schools don’t have the space, budget or staff to provide collections or access that the entire town population needs. And not everyone can afford to go out of town for library services – and there is the convenience factor. ( Dover charges $100/yr, Portsmouth is $75. )
I agree with Jane about the need for a library–I think it is one of the essential needs of a democratic society. But apart from that, I hope we don’t lose out on purchasing the St. Michael’s property for the town. It may not even turn out to be used for a library but the location is strategic for the town. It includes parking, access to Central School, and it could offer opportunities for mixed use development adjacent to downtown that could bring new businesses and/or affordable or senior housing into the downtown core. I read the entire appraisal that was done and many old churches are bought by private individuals for use as a residence. I admit it would be a very cool home but that use wouldn’t add to the long term economic well being of the town. I hope we can buy it, if a good price can be negotiated, and then really look at all the options to use it in the best way for the town. There are places where there have been public-private partnerships to redevelop parcels like this–we should learn about them and figure out good options for our town.
First off, I do not disagree that a libray is a good and essential item.
I do, however, question why we need to, AT THIS TIME, look in to spending that kind of money when there are several more advanced libraries which can be utilized in other nearby towns.
Does this cost the suers some additional money? Yes.
Will it still cost these users money if we purchase and imporve the property for use as a library? Yes.
The question is, what will cost the least for all parties involved.
Two other questions
1) Is St Michaels owned by the church still, or by a private entity?
2) If it is still owned by the chuirch, has anyone approached the church administration about DONATING the building to the town?
Hi, I’d also like to add the thought here that being green doesn’t necessarily mean BUILDING green. Old buildings can be made green. Before rejecting St. Michael’s as the library, I’d like to see the figures worked out, by a qualified architect/engineer who understands historic buildings, for conversion vs. new construction. It may be that the Library Advisory Board will still find it’s not worth being there. It may be the financial analysis will show that it makes no sense either in terms of efficiently operating the building. If so, we can retire the option of converting the church and wait to build new. But let’s DO THE ANALYSIS. What if it could save South Berwick millions? What if it could mean we could get a new library after all?
Here we go again finding excuses to not build a library. Oh my we don’t have enough money to do it now that the economy is “fill in the blank.” It never seems to be the right time and budgets are always tight no matter the economy. I still can’t figure out how we need to cut money when the economy is strong and weak.
I have lived in this town for 20 years and hear the same thing every time. As for asking the church to “donate” the building to the town, it needs the money to build a new church and if the town will not buy the building, then it will need to sell it to someone else and we will loose the chance to have a quality library and needed parking spaces. Oh yea, we don’t really want to build it anyway. I forgot.
How about if all the people who want a library donate the money to pay for it?
Oh Yeah, I forgot, we have to pass the costs on to everyone even if they don’t agree.
Several years ago, they wanted to spread the cost of sewers to everyone in town by increasing the property tax, even if they don’t have town sewer and water. Why don’t we have people who don’t use it pay for it.
Why wasn’t that adopted?
That would have save me over $600 a year.
Sewers benefit the town as well!
It’s really easy to criticize someone who wants to look at all aspects prior to a major capital outlay when you are for something that you want others to pay for.
FYI
Even though it would have benefited me, I voted against that proposal because I don’t feel everyone in town should have to pay for something if they get no benefit from it.
Is the church going to build a new facility in South Berwick, or did they just consolidate because there are not enough people to justify the extra expense?
Also, it never hurts to ask. you just might get surprised.
Using your logic we don’t need a fire department because not everyone’s house has burnt down, we don’t need a police department because not everyone’s house has been broken into…
Not quite.
I don’t see the library as a vital emergency service.
Will not having a new library risk someones life?
The problem is, I am not against expanding the library. I just want the town to look into all possibilities, not just jump to spending money because some people think we should.
There are alternatives available right now for the short term.
Is going to the Dover library inconvienient for some? Yes it is.
As it is, the current library is not open when many of the towns people can utilize it, so thay have to go to Dover anyway.
Will this change with the new library?
Asking questions and raising possibilities is how we can get things done in a way that EVERYONE can agree on.
It would cost us nothing to ask the church about donating the building.
I do have another question.
Again, this is just to raise possiblities, and possibly save some money.
We have a community center in the old shoe factory.
How much space is available there?
How often / much is it utilized?
Would it be a viable alternative to look in to sharing that space with the new library?
If it could be combined for use with both functions, would this be an acceptable alternative to spending additional money?
The other question I have is, what is the plan for use of the old building?
Is it going to be sold?
Will the sale of this property help offset the cost of the new library?
Is it going to stay on the town books but remain empty?
Hi, Dave, The town doesn’t own the current library house. A community group called the JEM Committee has provided the space gratis for about 25 years. (The town defrays utilities, etc.) The building maintenance is contributed by volunteers and supported by rental of an upstairs apartment.
Well,
Speaking of volunteers.
Has any thought been given into holding fund raisers etc… to offset the cost of purchasing a new building?
Bean suppers at the Community Center, thirft shop sales using donated articles, raffles using items donated by local businesses?
I know that if something like bean suppers, and the thrift shop were arranged, and it was not when I’m working, I would donate my time and effort to try to raise money.
I would also by raffle tickets.
If we are not looking at creative ways to get what we want, then we are only doing what the State of Maine is doing, raising taxes that will never go down.
I just believe there are alternatives to automatically asking for money that may not be needed as much as it seems.
How do you arrange useage at the community center?
Can some groups get to gether to plan things like this?
Is there a Friends of the Library group that can be approached about these subjects?
AS I said in my earlier post, several years ago, they wanted to spread the sewer costs to everyone in town. That is patently unfair.
Can we do anything to bring about a new facility that can make the town proud of the accomplishment with out adding to an already overburdened tax base?
Sam, Music to my ears! Maybe the moment to build is sooner than anticipated.
Hi Dave – I’m glad you asked about the current building – I dont think a lot of people know that the library facility we have has been provided and maintained by volunteers for so long. We’ve been lucky.
As to fund-raising – the Friends of the Library have been busy preparing for a capital fund drive for when we get the green light on site and plan from the town. We need to know that what we are asking people to donate to will a) actually happen, and b) provide adequately for the towns library needs.
Dave – also – many thanks for being willing to help out! We’ll need all the help we can get!
In response to Mary’s 3/27/08 blog, I am currently a member of the South Berwick Planning Board and my term will expire in 2010. I was proud to serve for 18 year on the South Berwick Town Council. I hate to disappoint you, Mary, but at this point in time, I have no intention of running for a Town Council seat. Furthermore, the petition being circulated is about giving all the citizens of South Berwick a voice in their town government.
Just checking. Pretty silent weekend at the diner.?!
As the new library director, I am very interested how people feel about the Library and plans to build a new one. I’d like to assure everyone that all of the issues that you have raised are valid ones and will be considered in making plans. We need to do some long range planning that will not only get us the room that we need to function well as a library but also ensure its sustainability over the years. I am trying to get to know the town, the library facility, the staff and the patrons so that a good library plan can be put together. Please feel free to stop by the Library to introduce yourself and see what we’re all about.
If an existing structure can serve the new purpose (use) without a significant effort then renovation is the most sustainable and green approach. An existing building already has a lot of embodied energy. Everything we produce requires energy to manufacture, harvest, transport, store and construct along with the waste stream during construction. In simple terms building new requires more energy than most renovations. When the needs of a project cannot be met by renovation that is when building new is the best approach.
I agree with Wendy an analysis needs to be done.
Mike and Wendy – I agree too. I’m just learning about green buildings, but I know that recycling existing structures is preferrable. I would hope that whatever structure the Library winds up in, heating/cooling costs could be kept to a minimum.
St. Michaels church is a beautiful space – not many structures in town that draw your eyes up and give you that lift of spirits that open ceilings like that do. I do hope it can be used for something public if not for the library – there had been some talk of an event center? ( I know it would mean a private organization for something like that), but it would be a nice draw to the downtown.