On January 12, 2009 the Town Council voted to hold a Special Town Meeting on Monday, January 26, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. to determine if the registered voters of South Berwick will approve a road bonding plan. The $2,000,000 bond includes:
$1,000,000 to reconstruct sections of Emery’s Bridge Road (The White’s Marsh section of Emery’s Bridge Road is not included in this bond package. That section is engineered and waiting for an opportunity to make application to FEMA.)
$400,000 to reconstruct Thurrell Road and a portion of Great Hill Road
$250,000 to reconstruct a portion of Boyd’s Corner Road
$250,000 to reconstruct a portion of Ogunquit Road
$100,000 to reconstruct a portion of Witchtrot Road
(See the Road Plan for a full description of the areas to be reconstructed, and see a map showing the affected roads.) The Town Council will be providing more information about the bond this week, so keep your eye on the Town web site. I will also try to post more information as it becomes available.
Below is the text of the Warrant:
WARRANT
(See the pdf of the official document)
TOWN OF SOUTH BERWICK MAINE
SPECIAL TOWN MEETING
State of Maine County of York, ss.
TO: SIDNEY STEVENS, a Resident of South Berwick in the County of York, State of Maine.
GREETINGS: In the name of the Town of South Berwick, you are required to notify the inhabitants of said Town, qualified to vote in Town affairs, to assemble in the R P Gagnon Assembly Hall in the Town Hall at 180 Main Street in said Town on Monday, January 26, 2009 at 6:30 p.m., then and there to act on the following articles:
ARTICLE 1. To elect a moderator to preside at said meeting.
ARTICLE 2. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum not to exceed $2,000,000, for a term not to exceed 10 years, with an interest rate not to exceed 6% for the purpose of Road Capital Improvement projects and, to fund said appropriation, (1) authorize the Treasurer and Chairperson of the Town Council to issue general obligation securities of the Town of South Berwick (including temporary notes in anticipation of the sale thereof) in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $2,000,000, and (2) delegate to the Treasurer and the Chairperson of the Town Council the discretion to fix the date(s), place(s) of payment, form and other details of said securities on behalf of the Town of South Berwick and to provide for the sale thereof.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
TOWN OF SOUTH BERWICK
1. Total Town Indebtedness
A. Bonds outstanding as of June 30, 2008 $ 1,390,000.00
B. Bonds authorized and unissued $ 0.00
C. Bonds to be issued if this vote is approved $ 2,000,000.00
Total $ 3,390,000.00
2. Costs
At an estimated maximum interest rate of 6%, with a term not to exceed 10 years, the estimated costs of this bond issue will be:
Principal: $ 2,000,000.00
Interest $ 660,000.00
Total Debt Service: $ 2,660,000.00
3. Validity
The validity of the bond and of the voters’ ratification of the bond may not be affected by any errors in the above estimates. If the actual amount of the total debt service of the bond issue varies from the estimate, the ratification by the electors is nevertheless conclusive and the validity of the bond issue is not affected by reason of the variance.
I was at the Town Council Meeting where the Council voted to hold the Special Town Meeting on this bond. Several people at the meeting spoke out against it. I came away with some questions that I hope will be answered before the vote takes place.
1) What do the people who live in those affected areas think of the project? Do they see a need for this work to be done?
2) I would like to hear from the Public Works Department about the need for this work. What are the ramifications if this bond does not pass? Will the work still get done, but over a longer time period? What might be the result of putting off the work?
It is a scary time to think about taking on bond debt but on the other hand I see the Vine Street bridge as a cautionary tale. Here the state put off maintenance and rebuilding to the point that the cost became prohibitive and the bridge had to be closed because it is unsafe for traffic. Now that route through South Berwick is closed off, resulting in a huge burden on people who are trying to get to and from that end of town. I really want to hear more about the pros and cons of the bond before I will be ready to vote.
ATTENTION: South Berwick Tax Payers. Did South Berwick find a pot of gold? If not, than everyone should be concerned and attend the special town meeting on January 26th. Without any discussion at any meetings or any public hearings, the South Berwick Town Council have taken it upon themselves to schedule a special town meeting to ask the residents to approve a 2 million dollar bond for roads in the middle of the budget cycle. This is ABSURD! This will result in a tax increase no matter how you look at it. With the State of Maine cutting funding to schools, road projects, revenue sharing and possibly even the Homestead Exemption reimbursement, this is not the time to be borrowing money! In order to pay this debt payment, there would have to be over $200,000 in cuts to the towns operating budget in order to keep the tax rate the same. Trying to get the voters out to a special town meeting in the middle of January to vote on this is improper to say the least. This should be done either at the annual town meeting in June or by a referendum vote so more folks can participate in the process. I will agree that the roads are not in the best condition but none of the roads in any of our neighboring towns in Maine and New Hampshire are. All towns are facing the same dilemma but there is only so much money to go around. I would not want to see any of South Berwick’s excellent employees be laid off so that this project can go forward. I think all residents would commend the South Berwick Public Works Director and his efforts to keep all the roads in tip-top shape and put together a Road Plan but as the saying goes “Don’t shoot the messenger.” Elected officials have the final say on these matters. They asked for and received a Road Plan. Now they must make the tough decisions which affect all of the taxpayers. This vote should not be a vote of one road versus another road. In these tough economic times, can the taxpayers afford another large tax increase? We are expected to be in this recession for several more years. At the last council meeting, the audience was told that everyone will have to make tough choices. I hope many of South Berwick’s citizens will come to the meeting on January 26th and make the choice not to borrow this money. We just can’t afford it. At the last meeting the Chair of the Town Council told me that the revenues in South Berwick are already more than $100,000 below what was projected and it is only January! I do not envy the South Berwick Town Council but as our elected officials I would hope they would try to be as fiscally responsible with our tax dollars as they can especially in these tough times. Please try to attend the meeting on January 26th at 6:30 p.m. Richard W. Clough, Sr. South Berwick, Maine
South Berwick Special Town Meeting
The South Berwick Town Council has scheduled a Special Town Meeting for Monday, January 26th at 6:30 p.m. at the Town Hall. This meeting is to vote on a $2 Million bond for road rebuilding. I strongly believe that this issue should be scheduled for the June Town Meeting. Please don’t get me wrong, I am very much in favor of maintaining our infrastructure, however, during these tough economic times, can we afford it at this time? Please attend this special town meeting, ask questions and make your voice heard.
I got this off the town website this morning;
The plan the Town Council is placing before the voters provides the bonded two million dollars for road construction as well as additional annual appropriations (over the bond term) of $2,343,125 to be used for annual road maintenance. The additional appropriations will be voted on at Town Meeting and as such are subject to annual approval. The estimated bond payback is $2,556,875. The total expenditures of annual appropriations and the bond (including interest) is $4,900,000.
Is the additional $2.9 million over the bond term above and beyond annual road maintenance expenditures that the town would normally incur??
Another question is why were these roads allowed to deteriorate to this extent?? I have traveled on a few of these roads. They needed work long before now.
Good question Mark. The wording does seem unclear about whether this is additional to what would be regular annual appropriations for ongoing maintenance.
also urge everyone to attend the meeting on January 26. In addiiton to the Cleary/Clough posting, I would also like to add a bit of info may be of interest and help in making your decision. According to the 2008/2009 Town budget (available on the Town’s websit) entitled “Projected Appropriations FY 2009″ at the bootom of page 1 the town already has 3 outstanding bonds, one taken out in 1989, one in 1991 totaling $70,020. and on page 2 Account #4733 Community Center Debt totaling $102,452 just for FY 209 with these 3 debts, just for FY 2009 our debt totals for these 3 bonds is $172,472 for this year alone. As noted in a recent post, revenues are down by over $100,00 Adding another bond payment is not fiscally responsible at this time, as the only avenue for repaying these debts is increasing taxes. As also noted in a previous post, a councilor mention “we all have to tighten our belts” – to whom was he referring?
Additionally, there is already $200,000 appropriated in this year’s budget for road maintenance (not reconstruction), then we must add at least $200,00 each year for the next 10 years to the budget on top of the that (bond payment plus interest) , we are now at >$400,000, plus, we keep hearing the $200,000 isn’t enough to maintain the roads, so will the appropriation request be more inthe upcoming year? so, we as taxpayers are looking at an excess of $400,000 just on that one line item for the roads. Wtih the revenue shortfalls, coupled with the bond payment – the only option is to raise our taxes again this year and potentially the next few.
The mindset of incurring more debt when income/revenue is lacking is a strong contender for the cause of our country’s current economic situation. If you don’t have the cash available, you don’t go and incur more debt, you work with what you currently have and cut expenses Timing is everything.
I also urge everyone to attend this meeting as a $4 million dollar bond will have an affect on our taxes. It is impossible with the budgets being so tight not to. Also the State of Maine is now looking at a huge shortfall which will have to affect our town. Councilors, how much will this cost each household that is the real question I would like to know.
Can we afford to wait??? Maybe, but if taxpayers do not know the cost to them even if paving is a good idea with a huge price tag we will vote no. Personally, I know of too many struggling families to think four million dollar expenditure should even be thought of at this time. Give us a realistic number to think about not a pie in the sky number.
The better plan would be to add it to the budget in June. As a former employee of a construction firm, I am sure the thought is to get the money passed now so plans can be put in place to get bids and contracts in for the roads. Councilors we are not naïve. Please give us the tax increase numbers now so we know what we are really voting on.
We may already be looking at a tax increase even without the road bonding.
At last Wednesday’s school board meeting, the superintendent shared with us the fact that even if we pass a budget this spring with a ZERO percent increase in spending, we will still have to pass along an increase of 4% to South Berwick and Eliot taxpayers because of reduced state funding.
We should all be very angry with the Maine state government – they’re not complying with LD 1
Oops – submitted that comment before finishing it. LD 1 is the law that was voted by Maine citizens to fund 55% of state education costs – right now that level is below 50%!
Write to your representatives – tell them not to approve their budget that does not comply with LD 1. It puts more of the education expense burden on Maine real estate owners through payment of their taxes.
See you all at Monday’s meeting.