Susie Burke & David Surette will be appearing at the Elysium Arts Folk Club in the second of their Cabin Fever Concert Series. This intimate, “house concert”-style series features a creative collaboration with local or regional musicians; the informal and intimate format is designed to promote the innovative and the unexpected.

This Saturday, Susie and David’s guest will be bluegrassers Ellen Carlson, Matt Shipman and Todd Jones, of High Range.

Here are the details:
March 15, 2008, 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Elysium Arts Folk Club , Lower Mill, Front St., Rollinsford NH
Cost: $12.00 - Preorder tickets by email: info@elysiumarts.com or call: 603.743.4700

This Saturday Powderhouse Hill Ski Club is offering a day of fun skiing and racing for all ages and abilities. Admission is free with $5 lift ticket. Skiers and boarders are welcome and can register anytime between 9:30 am and 1 PM.

The course will be open for racing from 10-2. The best times in each category will receive recognition. Age categories: 0-6, 7-8, 9-12, 13-16, 17-20, 21-40, and 41 and up. Lift operating hours from 10 am to 4 pm on the day of the Challenge.

For more information email, info@powderhousehill.com, call 207.384.5858 or visit the Powderhouse Hill web site.

The Town Council had a budget workshop on March 11, 2008. There is a recap of the budget workshop on the town’s budget website page. The Town Manager’s proposed revenue, expense, and capital budget can also be found there.

The upcoming schedule for budget workshops is as follows
Monday March 17th at 5 pm
Police, Dispatch, ACO and Public Safety CIP
Fire and Fire Department CIP

Tuesday March 18th at 5 pm
Workshop w/Solid Waste Committee for no longer than 1 hour
Highway, Town Hall, Community Center
Town Garage, Public Facilities, Transfer Station,
Solid Waste, Roads, Sidewalks & Highway Equipment CIP

Tuesday March 25th at 5 pm
EMA, Rescue, Clerk, Control Collection, Code Enforcement,
Conservation, Library, Library CIP, Assessing, Computer,
Planning, EDC, Recreation, Manager, Administration,
Employee Benefits, Debt, remaining CIP, Revenues.

There is a story on the budget in today’s Portsmouth Herald:

Budget fight: Manager’s job at stake in South Berwick
Portsmouth Herald
At the heart of the controversy surrounding the potential resignation of Town Manager Jeffrey Grossman is the proposed fiscal year 2009 operating budget…

3/13/08 Update:  In the Portsmouth Herald story it says that next Tuesday’s budget workshop is canceled.  Roberta Orsini, Executive Assistant to the Town Manager, confirms that the Tuesday March 18th meeting is still scheduled.

The SAD 35 School Board will be discussing a proposed policy that will allow parents from other towns to tuition their children into SAD 35 schools. The information was published in the last SAD 35 newsletter, but the School Board has not had much feedback from the community. The School Board will be discussing the proposed policy at the March 19th and April 2nd meeting. They allow public input on all agenda items.

The policy, described as a measure to increase revenues and maintain programs and services, would allow a student from another community to attend a SAD 35 school following a formal request for admission, approval by the Superintendent, and the payment of tuition at the state-approved rate plus the cost of any special education or other extraordinary services provided to the student. Parents would be responsible for transportation. The policy also includes a clause that retroactive tuition will be assessed for students found to be nonresidents and ineligible for enrollment under law or board policy.

Read the entire policy here. (pdf)

Here’s a round up of this morning’s coverage of the town meeting last night:

South Berwick Town Manager asked to leave
Foster’s Daily Democrat
Town Manager Jeff Grossman insisted he “isn’t going anywhere” after acknowledging Monday night at a Town Council meeting that a member or members of the council asked him to resign…

S. Berwick boss may lose his job
Portsmouth Herald
Town Manager Jeffrey Grossman announced publicly on Monday that the Town Council has asked him to resign his position or it will take legal steps to remove him…

the236diner recap of the meeting is in a previous post .

The town council meeting followed a work session with the Maine Department of Transportation regarding a potential bypass and a special town meeting to vote on a warrant to transfer $100,000 from the undesignated fund to cover winter maintenance. The warrant passed on a voice vote. A recap of the Department of Transportation workshop will be posted here in a day or so.

Approximately 100 people attended tonight’s meetings. Reporters from Foster’s Daily Democrat, Portsmouth Herald, and radio station WTSN (1270 AM) attending the meeting so there should be coverage tomorrow.

The meeting was an emotional one with candid discussion about the ongoing tension between the Council and the Manager and the revelation that the Town Manager has been asked by the Town Council to resign or face proceedings to remove him from the position. There was also much public comment on the comprehensive plan, the town budget, and potential tax increases.
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There is a special town meeting tonight, Monday, March 10, 2008 at 6:30 PM in Auditorium Hall.  The warrant does not seem to be published on the town web site.  Howeve, an article in Foster’s Daily Democrat indicates that it is for the transfer of $100, 000  from the undesignated fund account for winter snow removal.  Here’s the article:

South Berwick snow removal budget $190g in the red
Foster’s Daily Democrat
A special town meeting will be held Monday, March 10 at 6:30 pm at the Town Hall regarding the transfer of $100000 …

Everyone has lots of opinions and ideas about the budget.  Here’s the place to talk about it.

SAD 35 costs up $1.7 million
Portsmouth Herald News
Superintendent Jeffrey Bearden of School Administrative District 35 says that taxpayers in Eliot and South Berwick will have to pay an additional $1.7 million to fund schools in fiscal year 2009..

Land Trust looks to raise funds with Spring Auction
Foster’s Daily Democrat
Tickets are still available for the annual Great Works Regional Land Trust Spring Auction, scheduled for Sat., …

Eliot taxes may rise sharply
Portsmouth Herald News
Property taxes may increase by 11 percent for Eliot residents for fiscal year 2009 in order to make up for a $500000 budget …

For the love of music: Elysium Arts Folk Club brings live music to …
Foster’s Daily Democrat
Blink as you drive northeast out of Dover you just might miss the quaint li’l town of Rollinsford. It would be more of a shame than you might …

Eliot dispatch service to switch?
Portsmouth Herald News
After years of a handshake agreement that had Kittery dispatching for Eliot, the selectmen recently considered a proposal from South Berwick to take over …

Monkey Business Bakery, one of South Berwick’s newest businesses opened this week on lower Main Street. Dover residents Jake and Nicole Bouchard rented the space vacated by Hot Dog Heaven in October and spent months fitting up the baking kitchen and the showroom.

Jake and Nicole both grew up in central Maine. Nicole learned her craft at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont. They knew they wanted to locate their bakery in a small town and when they found the space in South Berwick they decided to go for it. Jake explains the name, “We both have a thing for monkeys and Nicole had to do a business plan as an assignment when she was at the Culinary Institute and used the name in that. We liked it so decided to use it here.”

The bakery offers cakes, cheesecakes, breakfast pastries, tarts and cookies, all made from scratch using simple high quality ingredients. Nicole’s passion is cakes and the bakery will always have a selection on hand. Special orders are available with advanced notice. Nicole loves to make fancy sculpted art cakes and plans to offer them once the business gets more established.

I didn’t get to try a cake yet but I did get some cookies and brownies for tonight’s dessert. I couldn’t wait for dessert though and tried a double chocolate cookie this afternoon. It was perfect, tender and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside with a beautiful balance of high quality chocolate, butter, and fresh flour with just the right touch of sweetness. If the cookie is any indication, I expect the cakes to be sublime.

Monkey Business Bakery also serves coffee and has a couple of tables for eating in. The are open Tuesday through Friday from 7 AM to 4 PM, Saturday 8 AM to 4 PM, and Sunday 9 AM until 2 PM. They are located at 440 Main St. in South Berwick, across from Fogarty’s.

Local music lovers will have the opportunity to hear the first public performance of “Spheres”, a choral cantata by Charles Kaufmann of Portland, Maine, on April 4-6. The piece will be performed by the Community Chorus at South Berwick.

The Community Chorus at South Berwick commissioned the Kaufmann work, which is based on poetry by the late Constance Hunting, University of Maine professor and poet, as the centerpiece of its spring concert series, “From a Poet’s Pen”, featuring choral music inspired by poetic texts of many ages and cultures. Other selections range from the Psalms to Thoreau and Whitman, with music from Brahms, Schubert, Washburn, Parker and many others.

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The Little Hat Company is a fun place to go. It is full of colorful toys, books, fuzzy puppets, and the very sweet and unique hats that are the core of its business. But that’s only part of the story; the other part is that the Little Hat Company is a company on the move, adding daily to the economic vitality of South Berwick.

On the day I visited, Jennifer Houghton and her son were putting up new shelves to showcase the hats. A designer had just dropped off the prototype for a strawberry hat that Jen expects will be a big hit at the Strawberry Festival, and Jen shared the news that Little Hat Company will be featured in Yankee Magazine’s summer travel issue.

The growth of Little Hat Company has been an exciting journey for South Berwick resident Jen Houghton. It all started when she sewed a hat for her own child. Soon friends and then retailers were requesting hats and Jen was trying to figure out production processes and working late into the night to fulfill orders. Over the next two years the business grew quickly and reached several milestones: joining with business partner, Susan Page, incorporating as an LLC, opening the retail store in South Berwick, expanding retail sales to include toys and gifts, internet sales, the first catalog, a second location in Cape Neddick, and now the business is getting ready to launch a new website with a new more professional look.
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The new windows at 4 Portland St., the new home of South Berwick Yoga look great! It’s amazing how a relatively small improvement can spruce up the look of downtown.

South Berwick Yoga is having an open house on Saturday March 8th 1-4 pm and on Sunday March 9th 1-4pm. You can see their new space and on Saturday from 1-4 pm PB&J unplugged will be performing. They will also have giveaways.

South Berwick Yoga offers yoga classes in a variety of styles including Ashtanga Flow, Vinyasa Flow, Hatha, Restorative, Pilates and Yoga for your Core. They also offer children’s classes through ChildLight Yoga. They will be offering Workshops and beginners series each month.

They are at 4 Portland St. in South Berwick. More information can be found at their web site.

The South Berwick Conservation Commission is sponsoring well water testing for South Berwick residents. The testing will be performed by Demers Lab in Sanford . The basic complete testing for $50.00 includes the following: total coliform and E-coli, nitrate, chloride, hardness, pH, iron, manganese, sodium, color, odor and turbidity. You can

add a test for arsenic for $15.00.

Pick up kits and directions anytime after April 1st at town hall and drop off at town hall Saturday morning April 12 from 9 am -12 noon.

For more information, call 384-3300 ext 336 (conservation commission voice mail) or email prnel@comcast.net with the subject “well water test.”

EDC chair walks out of South Berwick council meeting, resigns
Foster’s Daily Democrat
Dennis Fontaine, the chairman of the town’s Economic Development Committee, frustrated with recent development projects that have stalled…. (with correction added to article…)

Industrial park bill killed
Portsmouth Herald News
State lawmakers in Augusta on Tuesday killed a bill sponsored by Sen. Peter Bowman, D-Kittery, to create a new …

Senator kills York Co. industrial park bill
Mainebiz Daily
A group of officials from seven communities — Berwick, North Berwick, South Berwick, Eliot, Kittery, Wells and York — worked for more than a year to draft …

South Berwick snow removal budget $190g in the red
Foster’s Daily Democrat
A special town meeting will be held Monday, March 10 at 6:30 pm at the Town Hall regarding the transfer of $100000 …

Church donates to South Berwick recreation fund
Foster’s Daily Democrat
The First Parish Federated Church donated $1000 to the town’s recreation fund, drawing the gratitude of town councilors …

Eliot residents have their say
Portsmouth Herald News
Some 43 Eliot residents braved the elements Wednesday night to learn the results of recent resident surveys, which are a key

Digital maps for wetlands approved
Portsmouth Herald News
The Eliot Board of Selectmen has approved an expenditure of $4950 to purchase an accurate digital map that shows the location of

Kittery School Board cuts jobs to trim budget
Foster’s Daily Democrat
The School Committee will cut several jobs in an effort to trim next year’s budget. The budget, to be forwarded to the Town

Budgeting for schools a painful task in Kittery
Portsmouth Herald News
This is, by far, one of the toughest budget seasons New Hampshire and Maine Seacoast towns have faced in a while. Constantly escalating health care and

In Kittery: Is appointment process too cumbersome, too public?
Foster’s Daily Democrat
Someday soon, candidates for the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals may no longer have to be interviewed on live …

Kittery school budget slashes jobs
Portsmouth Herald News
The School Committee voted unanimously Wednesday night to cut district staffing by a librarian, two technologists, …

Snow spending buries budgets
Portsmouth Herald News
Officials in Kittery, Maine, and Seabrook expect it to be tight. Eighty-four percent through its winter maintenance budget, York, Maine, will go over, too. …

Bill would ease property tax burden for seniors
Portsmouth Herald News
Dawn Hill, D-York, the bill received the support of a number of York County legislators, including Sen. Peter Bowman. The bill is being co-sponsored by …

the236diner now has a community events calendar, where all things South Berwick can be listed. I hope this will become a central place to find out about what is happening in the community. Check it out to see what’s going on and make sure you get your events, meetings, or other happenings listed.

You can get to it on the right menu by clicking on Events Calendar under the “Other Stuff” heading. Once there, you will see a link with instructions for submitting events.

Coming next: A directory of South Berwick with links to government, organizations, businesses and whatever else is important.

I just got information that the budget workshops scheduled for today and tomorrow at 5 PM have been canceled. I don’t know why, but will post the information if I learn more.

The proposed budget documents have now been posted on the town web site budget page

Projected Revenues Fiscal Year 2009

Projected Appropriations Fiscal Year 2009

Capital Project Plan (10 Year)

Realtors: Area market faring OK
Portsmouth Herald
Real estate on the coast of southern York County appears to be hot on the market, while more rural, middle-range housing is snowed in for the winter…

Maine Real Estate Market Condition Report
Active Rain Real Estate Network
Over the last year sales have definitely slowed, but Maine has been fortunate to avoid the plummeting prices experienced in some areas of the country…

Southern Maine Real Estate Market Update8 Week of February 18-27, 2008
Real Estate Seacoast Blog
This blog offers a round up of real estate activity by week. Go to the full article for information about other southern Maine and New Hampshire towns. Here’s what’s happening in our neck of the woods:

Kittery

• Number of single family homes/condos on the market 109 (Last Week 107)
• Price Range $119,900-$5,500,000
• New Listings this week 5 (Last Week 4)
• Pending Contracts 15 (Last Week 12)
• Sold this week 1 (Last Week 0)

Eliot

• Number of single family homes/condos on the market 49 (Last Week 52)
• Price Range $72,000-$3,500,000
• New Listings this week 1 (Last Week 1)
• Pending Contracts 11 (Last Week 8 )
• Sold this week 0 (Last Week 1)

South Berwick

• Number of single family homes/condos on the market 47 (Last Week 49)
• Price Range $118,900-$469,000
• New Listings this week 2 (Last Week 6)
• Pending Contracts 6 (Last Week 2)
• Sold this week 0 (Last Week 0)

South Berwick resident Bob Cook is starting a new co-ed softball team that will play in the Dover Adult Co-Ed League in Rollinsford. He is looking for some more men and women, at least 18 years old, who would like to play. He wants to create a laid-back team of people who want to enjoy playing a great game with like-minded individuals.

The team even has a blog! Go to the Beacons blog to find information about the new team.

Bob is hoping to finalize the roster by the end of March and then hold some informal practices in April. The season begins around Mother’s Day weekend.

Contact Bob Cook by March 26 at 603-978-1326 or by email at robert.cook26@comcast.net .