The Town Council is bringing the following warrant articles to the voters on  July 19. The Town Manager has released documents explain the Town budget and issues addressed at this upcoming meeting.

Town Manager’s Document: Budget Questions

Town Manager’s Document: LD1 Fact Sheet

Town Manager’s Document: Fund Balance

Town Manager’s Document:  Cash Flow

Special Town Meeting:  Tuesday July 19 at 6:30 pm, Town Hall, South Berwick

At this meeting the voters are asked to rescind the revenues as voted on June 7th and approve a new proposal to include an additional $100,000 transfer from the Undesignated Fund. The next article will authorize the LD1 Overrun for the amount of the Bond Payment approved for Library Construction. The third article will authorize the remaining LD1 override. The articles are as follows:

ARTICLE 2. To see if the Town will vote to rescind Article 21 approved at the Town Meeting on June 7, 2011 and instead, vote to apply from Excise Taxes, Non—Tax General Fund Revenues, Revenue Sharing, BETE Reimbursement, Homestead Exemption Reimbursement and Undesignated Fund transfer to use toward the 2011/2012 Budget Appropriations approved at the Town meeting on June 7, 2011 via Articles 8 through 20, inclusive, thereby decreasing the amount to be raised by taxation.
TOWN COUNCIL RECOMMENDS THE FOLLOWING APPLICATIONS:
Excise Taxes $1,000,000
Non—Tax General Fund Revenues 662,042
State Revenue Sharing 375,000
Homestead Exemption Reimbursement 125,000
PETE Reimbursement 12,000
Undesignated Fund Transfer 100,000
Total $2,274,042

ARTICLE 3. To see if the Town will vote to increase the property tax levy limit of $3,000,599 established for the Town of South Berwick by State law for the 2011/2012 Municipal budget approved on June 7, 2011 via Articles 8 through 20, inclusive, to accommodate the payment for the $1.5 million dollar Library Construction bond approved via referendum vote on November 2, 2010. TOWN COUNCIL RECOMMENDS: Adoption

ARTICLE 4. To see if the Town will vote to increase the property tax levy limit of $3,000,599 established for the Town of South Berwick by State law for the 2011/2012 Municipal budget approved on June 7, 2011 via Articles 8 through 21, inclusive, adjusted for Article 2 and 3 above. TOWN COUNCIL RECOMMENDS: Adoption

The purpose of Town Meeting is for the Town Council to present an annual budget to the citizens for their approval or disapproval. It comes with a responsibility to also voice where, when proposed, cuts should be delivered. Not only was that not forth coming, but the opportunity to do that was taken from the citizenry by two motions to end discussion. Though the majority of those present, (only 2% of the registered voters) voted to end discussion, there were at least 20 hands raised for those who wished to speak but did not receive that opportunity from their fellow citizens. These citizens were disenfranchised of their right to voice their opinion, to participate in the debate, which is the foundation of town meeting. Town meeting should not be a venue for power plays. All citizens have a responsibility to attend and vote on the budget that will ultimately determine their town tax rate.

The budget as presented by the Town Council accurately reflected true costs of public services. It included;
–Maintaining the current level of services for police patrols, crossing guards and dispatch;
–Maintaining the current level of town hall services and hours of operations;
– Maintaining the current level of community center, recreational and library programs which  leverage volunteer service hours and user fees;
–Maintaining the current level of transfer station hours;
–The new expenses of the library bond approved in the November referendum and the  -infrastructure bond passed at last year’s town meeting $199,922;
–And a road infrastructure program which begins to address the crumbling roads in town.

The resulting expense increase of $ 529,912 followed three years of budgeted expenditures which increased a total of only .4% (virtually level funded). The rate of Inflation through this same period was 5.15%. These budgets included cuts to town staff, reductions in employee benefits and foregoing of raises.

The result of Town Meeting is a budget, presented to the public for their review and vote. It is now the citizen’s budget which could see major budget cuts, as much as $425,000 (8% across all departments). A respondent at town meeting offered that it is the responsibility of the town council to make these cuts. That statement defeats the purpose of town meeting where citizen priorities could be clearly established for the town council to implement. The Council has chosen to present another opportunity to the citizens to weigh in. The council will present three warrant articles; One allows for an increase in the revenues by using $100,000 from the Town’s undesignated fund. One allows for the LD 1 override to cover the expenses of the library bond approved previously and the last to override the LD1 limit by the additional costs associated with town government including increases to solid waste tipping fees, road salt and fuel. The Town Council would encourage all those who call South Berwick their home to attend the July 19th Town Meeting and exercise their responsibilities to determine, during the LD1 override discussions, which services they will fund and which they will cut.

David Burke, South Berwick Town Council Chair
Jean Demetracopoulos, South Berwick Town Council

The Town Council  is bringing the following warrant articles to the voters on July 12 and July 19.  The Town Manager has released a document that answers questions about what happened at the June 7 meeting and why these additional special meetings are scheduled.

Town Manager’s Document: Budget Questions

Special Town Meetings:

Tuesday, July 12,  at 6:30 PM
Authorization for overruns related to winter, general assistance, etc.

Voters will consider the following warrant articles:

ARTICLE 2. To see what sum the Town will vote to appropriate and expend from the Undesignated General Fund Balance to cover the unexpected overdraft in the Highway budget for 2010/11.  TOWN COUNCIL RECOMMENDS: $80,000 from Undesignated General Fund.
ARTICLE 3. To see what sum the Town will vote to appropriate and expend from the Undesignated General Fund Balance to cover the unexpected overdraft in the Transfer Station budget for 2010/11.  TOWN COUNCIL RECOMMENDS: $13,000 from Undesignated General Fund.

Tuesday July 19 at 6:30 pm

At this meeting the voters are asked to rescind the revenues as voted on June 7^th and approve a new proposal to include an additional $100,000 transfer from the Undesignated Fund.  The next article will authorize the LD1 Overrun for the amount of the Bond Payment approved for Library Construction.  The third article will authorize the remaining LD1 override.  The articles are as follows:

ARTICLE 2. To see if the Town will vote to rescind Article 21 approved at the Town Meeting on June 7, 2011 and instead, vote to apply from Excise Taxes, Non—Tax General Fund Revenues, Revenue Sharing, BETE Reimbursement, Homestead Exemption Reimbursement and Undesignated Fund transfer to use toward the 2011/2012 Budget Appropriations approved at the Town meeting on June 7, 2011 via Articles 8 through 20, inclusive, thereby decreasing the amount to be raised by taxation.
TOWN COUNCIL RECOMMENDS THE FOLLOWING APPLICATIONS:
Excise Taxes $1,000,000
Non—Tax General Fund Revenues 662,042
State Revenue Sharing 375,000
Homestead Exemption Reimbursement 125,000
PETE Reimbursement 12,000
Undesignated Fund Transfer 100,000
Total $2,274,042

ARTICLE 3. To see if the Town will vote to increase the property tax levy limit of $3,000,599 established for the Town of South Berwick by State law for the 2011/2012 Municipal budget approved on June 7, 2011 via Articles 8 through 20, inclusive, to accommodate the payment for the $1.5 million dollar Library Construction bond approved via referendum vote on November 2, 2010.  TOWN COUNCIL RECOMMENDS: Adoption

ARTICLE 4. The Town Manager has released a document that outlines the LD 1 property tax levy limit and explains the predicted impact of passage of the above articles on property taxes.

Town Manager’s Document: LD1 Fact Sheet

The South Berwick Town Meeting was held tonight for voters to consider the Town Budget . The budget as put forward by the Town Council would have resulted in a $5.73 Municipal Tax Rate (excludes County and SAD 35), a 70 cent increase over last year. The increase was caused by projected revenues down by 6.45% and increased expenses of the Library Construction Bond that was approved by voters in November 2010, a budget increase to the highway Department to reflect realistic costs for repairs, winter contracts, fuel, and salt, and an increase for the Transfer Station due to increased costs from Maine Energy Recovery Corporation for disposal costs. The warrant and detailed budgets can be found on the Town web site.

Twenty one of the twenty two warrant articles passed handily with very little discussion. The final warrant article, Article 22, asked voters to increase the property tax levy limit of $3,000,599 established for South Berwick by state law (LD 1) to account for the budget approved by the passage of the preceding warrant articles. After two motions to limit discussion and move the vote, the first of which failed and the second of which passed, this warrant article failed, with a vote of 45 yes and 56 no. That means that the Town Council will have to go back to the budget to make cuts and bring the budget back to the voters in a special town meeting.

Tonight’s decision will have important repercussions. Services may be cut, people may lose their jobs, the Town’s infrastructure may suffer more neglect. These big decisions were made by 101 voters, a mere 2% of registered voters of South Berwick. This happened at a Town Meeting held on a warm summer night that required two hours of commitment from those of us who attended. The Town Meeting was held at the same time as the convocation ceremony for graduating seniors, meaning that many parents and grandparents could not attend the Town Meeting. Each year the Town Meeting is held during the final weeks of school; it is a time for activities and final projects so many parents have to make a choice between their civic duty and their families. You will never convince me that the turnout at South Berwick’s Town Meeiting is representative of the citizens of South Berwick. If I were one of the citizens who was at the convocation, or worked out of town and could not make it to town for the meeting, or were a parent who could not arrange child care for over two hours on a school night I would be hopping mad that important decisions were being made by such a small number of citizens.

Perhaps it’s time we jettison the Town Meeting. Other towns in Maine have abolished the Town Meeting in favor of a referendum ballot on the municipal budget.

South Berwick’s 2011 Annual Report reports that in last year’s gubernatorial, referendum and municipal elections held in November, 56% of South Berwick’s voters participated, while 24% of voters turned out for the June State referendum and SAD 35 budget validation elections. Even the lighter June turnout of 24% is better than the paltry 2% turnout at this year’s Town Meeting.

Our Town Charter provides for a method for abolishing the Town Meeting. Apparently those who crafted the Charter 40 years ago knew that someday the town might outgrow the Town Meeting. At one time the Town Meeting allowed people to come together once a year to ask questions, further their understanding and to debate issues before the town. Maybe we’ve grown too large or maybe life has become too hectic for Town Meeting to work. It seems that rather than a vital forum for democracy it has become a barrier to voter participation. Sad.

There will be a Community Information Meeting with JCJ Architecture – A status report on library construction and presentation on Young Street Property Redevelopment potential. This is an opportunity to learn about plans to build our new library in the former St. Michael’s Church and current ideas to redevelop the site.

The Town Council voted 3-2 to appoint Perry Ellsworth as the new South Berwick Town Manager. Chairman David Burke voiced his support for Acting Town Manager, Roberta Orsini for the position.

In a three to two vote, the South Berwick Town Council appointed Perry Ellsworth as the new Town Manager of South Berwick.  He will formally begin his duties on January 17, 2011 but will be in town some before his official start date to start to get up to speed. His salary will be $85,000 per year. He has been the Town Manager of Rangeley, Maine for six years and before that worked at International Paper.  He currently lives in Strong, Maine.

Prior to the vote, many citizens spoke in favor of hiring Roberta Orsini, the Acting Town Manager, who also applied for the position.  Those in the audience spoke about her commitment to the town and mentioned that she has stepped in twice as Acting Manager and has proven her ability.

The Town Council has undertaken a search process over the last few months. Over 40 people applied, the search was narrowed down to three finalists, including Perry Ellsworth and Roberta Orsini. At the meeting tonight, the motion was made to appoint Perry Ellsworth as the new Town Manager.  Chairman Burke indicated that Mr. Ellsworth’s management skills, experience with construction projects, and experience dealing with unions were the deciding factors that led the Council to put the vote for Mr. Ellsworth’s appointment on the agenda.

After the motion, each of the Town Councilors spoke.  Chairman Burke read a prepared statement outlining his support of Roberta Orsini as his preference to fill the  position and stated he would be voting against the motion to appoint Mr. Ellsworth.  Mr. Burke also recounted a list of specific examples of Ms. Orsini’s accomplishments and called on his fellow councilors to carefully consider their vote.  Gerald MacPherson also spoke of his preference of Roberta Orsini for the job and said he also would be voting against the motion.  Both stated that they were not voting against Mr. Ellsworth but were in support of Ms. Orsini because of her proven record of performance and her commitment to the town.

Jack Kareckas said he felt it was his duty to make the choice of the person who was best qualified for the job and based on the experiences and skills that Mr. Ellworth would bring, would be voting to appoint Mr. Ellsworth.  David Webster said that Mr. Ellsworth brought a certain set of skills that the town needs and that he would be voting to appoint Mr. Ellsworth.  He also said that Mr. Ellsworth talked with Ms. Orsini about how they might work together.  Mr. Webster is confident that the combination of Mr. Ellsworth’s skills and experience along with Ms. Orsini’s skills and experience will make a very effective Town Manager and Assistant Town Manager team for the town.  Jean Demetracopoulos  said she considers it her duty to disregard political issues and to select the person who best meets the needs of South Berwick and for that reason she would be voting to appoint Mr. Ellsworth.  Kareckas, Webster, and Demetracopoulos all said they were not voting against Ms. Orsini, but were voting for Mr. Ellsworth based on what they thought was best.

After the 3 to 2 vote appointing Mr. Ellsworth as the new Town Manager, Chairman Burke said the Council was prepared to work 100 percent to support Mr. Ellsworth and would be united in working together for the benefit of the town.

There were sounds of disapproval and anger in the audience which Chairman Burke quickly quelled.  Mr. Webster said he hoped that citizens would support the new Town Manager and not take their anger and frustration out on Mr. Ellsworth.

Wednesday, June 30
Planning Board Workshop
6:00 PM – Council Chambers
The Planning Board will meet in a workshop to discuss staff requirements.

Sunday, July 4
Transfer Station Closed
All Day – Agamenticus Road

Tuesday, June 15
Town Council
6:30 PM – Council Chambers
Agenda
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
1. Adopt Shoreland Zoning
NEW BUSINESS
1. Sign warrant for Special Town Meeting
2. Liquor license & special amusement permit renewal for The Links at Outlook
3. Liquor license & special amusement permit renewal for Pepperland Café
4. Discuss Great Hill Road

Supporting Documents

Thursday, June 17
Community Development Committee Meeting
6:30 PM – Council Chambers
Agenda
OLD BUSINESS:
-       Dog Park
NEW BUSINESS:
-       To Do List (vacancies)
-       New vacancy on Committee.
-       Ribbon Cuttings: JAD Mercantile, 12 Portland St. a bookstore and café.
-       Library
-       Kid’s Day

A call to the Town Manager’s number results in a message that Mr. Schempf is on medical leave.

Mr. MacPherson also noted that as of yesterday Roberta Orsini as Assistant Town Manager has taken over the duties of the Town Manager while he is on leave.  MacPherson also notes that this is why the Town Council supported the addition of an Assistant Manager position last year, so that on occasion such as this there would be continuity.

A call to Mrs. Orsini resulted in the information that Mr. Schempf is on medical leave and has asked that his privacy be respected.

Update: This article was based on several sources that had indicated the Mr. Schempf has resigned.  This apparently is not true.  See Update on Status of Town Manager John Schempf