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 grandmother of Camden Pierce Hughes, the young boy whose life came to a tragic end this week, has asked for help getting her thanks to the people of South Berwick.  Here is her letter:

Dear Sir/Madam

I am compelled to write to you. My name is LuRae McCrery. I am the mother of Julianne McCrery and the grandmother of Camden Pierce Hughes. I want to thank everybody in your town and elsewhere for attending a vigil tonight in Camden’s honor. It was very special of your city to remember someone that nobody even knew. I am very sad and heartbroken about what happened. It seems like a very bad nightmare from which I will never wake up.

Camden was a very smart and bright little boy. He was in Kindergarten and in the Gifted Children’s program. One teacher said a while ago that he could read at the second grade level. One of his favorite things to do was to take his books and copy them down to practice his letters. He liked to kick a football and soccer ball in the back yard. Camden and I share the same birthday on March 15th and my birthday will never be the same again.

God has him in his arms right now and he will be safe.

I am sending you a couple of pictures of Camden which I hope you will enjoy.

There are so many family and friends that are profoundly affected by this senseless loss of a little boy.

Could you publish my note of thanks in your newspaper?

My love to you all and God bless you for your concern and condolences.

LuRae McCrery

South Berwick tax rate will not rise
SeacoastOnline.com
With no increase in taxes, the town’s roads and buildings will soon receive some much-needed attention, thanks to overwhelming voter …

South Berwick passes all articles in annual meeting
Foster’s Daily Democrat
Voters overwhelmingly passed all warrant articles during Tuesday’s annual Town Meeting.

State’s primary is this Tuesday; ballot to include referendum questions and …
Foster’s Daily Democrat
Craig A. Gagne, of Sanford, is running for the Republican nomination for York County Sheriff. There are no other candidates for county office on the …

Town votes ‘yes’ to all proposed school articles
Foster’s Daily Democrat
By Kyle Stucker SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — Voters passed all 18 warrants articles at Wednesday’s annual School District Budget Meeting. …

Honorable Mention
Foster’s Daily Democrat
The Pumpkinman Triathlon Festival recently awarded five student athlete scholarships to Marshwood High School students and one …

Traveling Through Time to Raise Awareness
The Weekly Sentinel
A group of third grade students at Central School has been working on a service-learning project with the Old Berwick Historical Society to…

South Berwick kids provide comfort with quilts
SeacoastOnline.com
It is hoped local fire and accident victims will now be a little more comfortable while being cared for by emergency responders, …

Thefts from cars on rise in local towns
York Weekly
By Deborah Mcdermott Police in Kittery, York and South Berwick have been reporting a spike in vehicle break-ins recently, and are urging residents to lock …

South Berwick library renovation put on paper
Foster’s Daily Democrat
The town’s Building Committee recently presented sketches for phase one of a proposed new public library located …

Student solar power Five years of bottle collection efforts pay …
Foster’s Daily Democrat
Students at Marshwood High School have found a way to make 80000 dirty plastic bottles really shine. …

York county home sales share Maine’s surge
York Weekly
The end of the federal home-buyer tax credit contributed to strong sales figures in April 2010, according to the Maine Association of Realtors. York County …

This 70-foot replica of the flat-bottomed sailing barges that once carried cargo up and down our tidal rivers now provides a unique stage for education and entertainment in tidewater towns throughout the Piscataqua Maritime Region. The nonprofit Gundalow Company, working with the Old Berwick Historical Society, welcomes you on board for any of the following events highlighting our local history and our waterways. All activities take place at Counting House Park and Quamphegan Landing unless otherwise noted.

Tuesday, May 18 – Gundalow Orientation: Behind the Scenes 5:00-6:00 PM
Join us to find out about volunteering on the gundalow this week.

Thursday, May 20 – Celebrate the Salmon Falls River! 5:00-7:00 PM
River displays and demonstrations by local nonprofits, hands-on activities, and tours of the gundalow and the Counting House. Old Berwick Historical Society Annual Meeting 6:30 PM Join us in the Counting House for refreshments, meeting, and concert by “Sounds Like Old Times” (Dave Peloquin and Bob Webb)

Friday, May  21 – Hike Through History all day
Central School students visit the gundalow, the Counting House, and other historic sites. This year’s theme: Water, Transportation, Local Economy, and Ecology. Rain date: May 24

Friday, May  21 -Dunnet Landing Stories 6:00 PM
Pontine Theater presents a series of sketches featuring the beloved characters of Sarah Orne Jewett’s masterpiece, The Country of the Pointed Firs. $10 fee; rain location is in the Counting House

Sunday, May 23 – A Sailor’s Life for Me 11:00-3:00 PM
A fun family day at the Hamilton House, with activities that explore our local maritime heritage. $4 fee for Historic New England members
(children free); $6 nonmembers (children $4). Contact 207.384.2454

Tuesday, May 25 – Yardscaping Workshop 5:30-8:00 PM
Visit the gundalow, tour the Counting House, and hear a Master Gardener’s tips for a healthy landscape. Sponsored by the Towns of South Berwick, Eliot, and Berwick, and the Board of Pesticide Control’s Yardscaping program. No charge.

Ongoing: School Field Trips on the gundalow May 19-26

For information on programs and volunteering:
info@gundalow.org 603.433.9505 education@gundalow.org
www.gundalow.org PO Box 425  Portsmouth, NH 03802-0425

Tonight,  Wednesday, October 28th, from 5-7 PM is the community soup supper at Spring Hill Restaurant, Pond Rd South Berwick. It is an old fashioned community fundraiser being held by townspeople working with Social Services to help local families deal with heating costs this winter. There’s no set donation or entry fee — there will be a bucket by the door where people can give whatever they can to help their neighbors stay warm.

Restaurants in South Berwick and York are pitching in and providing soups and breads for the event. Among them are: Nature’s Way Market, Pepperland, Forgarty’s, The Catered Event, Redbarn at the Outlook Farm,  The Black Bean, The Brixham General Store, Spring Hill Restaurant, When Pigs Fly Bread. Local merchants; Abby Chic, Salmon Falls Gardens, The Early Bird, Vacuum Village, the Little Hat Company, and Kimmi’s Best Biscotti are providing prizes for raffles to be held during the event. Tickets are also available ahead of time from The Early Bird and The So Berwick Pharmacy.  Jeff Lind and Carl Pehrsson will be playing acoustic jazz music.

Monday, June 15
Town Council Workshop
Council Chambers
Goals Workshop Agenda-following the regular Town Council meeting
Town Council Chambers
Purpose of meeting: to generate consensus around a short term and long term vision for the
Town for the manager to create a work plan around. (Council goals should not be a list of managerial tasks.)
Format: Where this workshop begins at the end of a regular council meeting, this first workshop will focus on Councilor & Manager goals and concerns. Staff will collate findings for prioritization at a second meeting.

Tuesday, June 16
Planning Board & Town Council (Joint Workshop)
7:00 PM – Council Chambers
1.      Discuss Shoreland Zoning
Documents
-Proposed deletion of Chapter 140 Articles. Prepared with memo cover sheet from Jim Fisk to John B. Schempf, Town Manager entitled “Existing Articles in Chapter 140 proposed to be deleted and repealed to be incorporated into a new Chapter 110 Shoreland Zoning”. (“v7jlf” and last dated April 10, 2009).
-Proposed Shoreland Zoning Ordinance – Chapter 110. Prepared with memo cover sheet from Jim Fisk to John B. Schempf, Town Manager entitled “Shoreland Ordinance, proposed”. (“v8″ and last dated May 26, 2009).
-Limited Residential Districts: Memo with Map illustration from Jim Fisk to the South Berwick Planning Board dated May 29, 2009.
-Purpose Statements for Floodplain and Minor Freshwater Wetlands. Prepared with memo cover sheet from Jim Fisk to the South Berwick Planning Board entitled “Additional purpose statements”, dated May 28, 2009.

Tuesday, June 16
Planning Board
7:01 PM – Council Chambers
Correspondence
1. Email from Josephine Collins per John B. Schempf dated June 3, 2009.
RE: South Berwick Zoning (45 and 49 Agamenticus Road – Map 29 Lot 27 – R2 Zone)
Old Business
1. Shoreland Zoning: Follow Up to Joint Workshop with Town Council.
2. CMP – Maine Power Reliability Program dated January 22, 2009.
RE: Ordinance Amendment. (Please refer to documents provided in the 6/02/09 Planning Board packet).
–Email correspondence from Bud Newell, TRC and Proposed Amendment Language dated March 10, 2009.
3. Our Lady of the Angels Church MSP#08-02; Our Lady of the Angels Parish (Greater Portland Diocese) – Major Site Plan Application. (Please refer to documents provided in the 6/02/09 Planning Board packet).
–Memo correspondence with revised plans from Thomas Harmon, Civil Consultants dated June 9, 2009.

Wednesday, June 17
EDC Meeting
6:30 PM – Meeting Room 2
Old Business:
1) Discuss Committee Charge in relation to the Economic Strategic Master Plan.
–Choose 1-3 economic driven findings per PDI report.
2) St. Michael’s/Young Street Property – Discuss Public Info. Mtg. 5/13/09.

Charitable thought one: This town is full of many great people who extend themselves in all kinds of ways, large and small.  I love participating in volunteer activities here because it means I get to spend time with very nice people and it helps me understand how their generosity, kindness, and willingness to do work that benefits the whole town makes this such a great place to live. Not to mention, they know how to have fun and it is nourishing to be around people who move beyond just complaining, to actually doing something to make the world better.

Charitable thought two:  The support that the Town and we, as taxpayers, give to the volunteer Committees, Boards, and Commissions gives us great bang for the buck.  The Conservation Commission organized the Earth Day clean up.  The all volunteer committee recruited more volunteers for the effort, coordinated with the Town, managed the logistics of the clean up and turned out to do the clean up.  Their work mobilized many person-hours of roadside cleanup that might have fallen to paid Public Works employees. Instead, citizens were mobilized to pitch in and do this work.  And this is just one example of the work that gets done because of Town committees. The tiny allocation of money that goes to the committees really leverages a lot of good work and savings.

And now the uncharitable thoughts:

A letter to the roadside litterer:

We picked up your cigarette butts, your chewing tobacco cans, your cigarette packages, your whiskey bottles, your beer cans.  You can have your vices, they are legal and your right, although not the drinking and driving part, but to paraphrase a bumper sticker,  “The world is not your recyling bin.”

We picked up your running shoes, your energy drink bottles, your water bottles, your organic juice bottles, your vitamin water bottles, and your nutrition bar wrappers.  All that time and money spent on giving yourself a healthy body and endless energy, and you don’t even have the energy to throw your trash away properly.  What’s up with that?

We picked up your toilet seat, your blue Calvin Klein briefs, your pink lace thong, your toothbrushes, and more that can’t even be mentioned here.  We don’t want that much information about your life.

We picked up your shingles, your buckets, your insulation, your sheets of plywood, your chairs, your desks, your tires, your tarps, your unidentifiable pieces of metal. What are you thinking?  That your “contribution” to roadside litter won’t make a difference? That it’s okay to throw this stuff on other people’s land?

We picked up your stuffed animals, your Hannah Montana shoe boxes, your juice boxes, your disposable diapers.  Is this what you want your children to learn?

I just don’t get it.  Do you just not think about it?  Did some important part of your brain get struck by lightning? Are you just lazy or are you doing it out of spite?  Even if you think the whole environmental thing is a crock and think people like me are treehugging moonbats, why would you trash the place where you live?

How can we get you to stop?

Sincerely,

Molly

Team up with friends and family to clean up your own street or road or you can join a special effort this year to clean the Rt. 236 southern gateway into town, from Woodland Hills to the 236 and route 4 intersection by Cumberland Farms.

Those who wish to help in cleaning Route 236 should meet at Woodland Hills at 9:30 on Saturday morning. Park at the clubhouse, which is left from the roundabout.  From there we will organize and team up.

The police will be patrolling that stretch of 236 to discourage speeders and there will be orange cones to alert drivers to the presence of Earth Day volunteers.  Children should probably not participate on this stretch of the road.  Adults should wear bright colored clothing and bring gloves.

If you are interested in participating, sign up by calling 384-3300 ext 336 (conservation commission voice mail) or emailing prnel@comcast.net.

The transfer station will accept trash from the clean up between 7 am and 6 pm.  If you have called or emailed as a participant in the Earth Day Clean Up you don’t need to use a blue bag for the trash you collect. Dirty plastic and cans cannot be recycled so should be put in bags. Glass, even if dirty,  can be recycled, so separate glass and clean cans for recycling.  All participants should wear gloves and bright or reflective clothing.

Monday, March 23
Town Council Meeting
Unfinished Business
1. Fire
A. Reconfirm Fire Truck Purchase-The Council approved the purchase of a Fire Truck for $145,000 from another Fire Department at a previous meeting.  This item was to reconfirm the purchase and to have the Council vote to waive the requirement for a competitive bid.  The Council may waive the competitive process when there are special circumstances, as in this case of purchasing a used truck from another Fire Department.  The Council voted unanimously to waive the competitive bid process and to reconfirm the purchase.
New Business
1. Administrative
A. Discuss/Take action on proposal for Energy Inventory-Town Manager Schempf explained this item as a starting point for the town to address energy usage.  An inventory will provide a full accounting of the town’s energy use for all of its functions.  Mr. Schempf explained that this would be a baseline that would help make decisions about what next steps would be to reduce energy usage and would also help position the town for federal energy and conservation funds.  The public comments were all in favor of the measure.  The Council voted unanimously to enter into a contract not to exceed $2500 for an energy inventory.  Mr. Schempf clarified that this money will come out of this year’s budget.
B. Discuss/Take action on creating a Town Energy Committee-Town Manager Shcempf explained that a Town Energy Committee could potentially undertake long term energy planning, help look for funding, and do community outreach about energy issues.    The Council was generally supportive of the idea but had questions about the specifics of such a committee, including how many people would be on it, what the goals and specific charge would be, and what the terms would be.  Mr. Schempf said he wanted to know if the Council was supportive of the idea before spending staff time on working out the details, and indicated that staff would work on the details and bring it back for further consideration.  The Council agreed to table the issue.
C. Set date for public hearing on 2009/2010 budget. (April 13th)-The Council unanimously voted to set the public hearing on the 2009/2010 budget for April 13.
2. Social Services
A. Take action on General Assistance Appendix B.-Social Service Director Vicki Desilets explained that this is a bookkeeping issue that would allow the limit General Assistance for food assistance to be raised.  Ms. Desilets explained that she has not provided food assistance through General Assistance for years, since the Food Pantry is available and those eligible for General Assistance are more likely to get assistance with rent or fuel.  The Council voted unanimously to sign and return the necessary form.
3. Assessor’s Agent
A. Sign Ratio Declaration for State of Maine.-Mr. Schempf explained that this is a town bookkeeping item affirming the Town’s tax ratio with Maine Revenue Services.  In the past this has not been brought for Council action but Mr. Schempf explained that it is appropriate that the Council vote to sign it.  The Council did so, unanimously.
B. Sign Assessor’s return for York County.-This is similar to the previous item indicating the Town’s intent to pay the tax assessed by the County.  The Council voted unanimously to sign.
4. Clerk
A. Take action on alewife fishing rights for 2009 season.  The Council voted unanimously to close alewife fishing rights for the 2009 season for conservation.
B. Take action on Warrant for unlicensed dogs.-The Council voted unanimously to take action on the Warrant for unlicensed dogs.  Once the action is taken a letter will be sent to owners who have previously licensed dogs but have not done so this year.  There is an additional late fee for licensing assessed, and potentially a $50 fine if they do not license dogs.
5. Planning
A. Set date for public hearing on BR Zoning Amendment and Zoning Map. (April 27th)-The Planning Board has held a public hearing on the proposed zoning amendment and map and recommended the changes to the Town Council.  The Town Council will now hold a public hearing.  The Council voted unanimously to hold a hearing on April 27.

ZONING
140 Attachment 2
Table B
Dimensional Requirements Index
(16) These height requirements shall not apply to farm buildings, flagpoles, chimneys, ventilators, domes, water towers and tanks, church towers and sanctuaries, tanks, windmill towers, or other structures or building accessory features usually erected at a height greater than the main roofs of building, provided that such structure or accessory feature is not for human habitation or occupancy and further provided that any structure or accessory feature higher than thirty five (35) feet is set back from all property lines a distance equal to its height. Special height requirements shall be reviewed by the Planning Board under Site Plan review.

Tuesday, March 24
MDOT Public Meeting: Great Works Bridge Construction
6:00 PM – Auditorium Hall
Notice Of Public Meeting In South Berwick To Discuss Future Replacement Of Great Works Bridge Over The Great Works River
Please join MaineDOT at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, March 24, 2009, at a public meeting to discuss the future replacement of the Great Works Bridge (#5610). The bridge carries the Route 236 over the Great Works River, and is approximately one quarter mile north of the Junction of Route 91/236.

Representatives of the Department of Transportation will be present at 6:00pm to listen to concerns, receive comments, and answer questions from anyone with an interest in the project. The Department is particularly interested in learning local views relative to project consistency with local comprehensive plans, discovering local resources, and identifying local concerns and issues. Anyone with an interest is invited to attend and participate in the meeting.
Accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities. Auxiliary aids will be provided upon advance request.
Any inquiries regarding this project may be directed to the attention of Don Ettinger, Project Manager, Maine Department of Transportation, Bridge Program, 16 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0016. Telephone (207) 756-0462 Email:  Don.Ettinger@maine.gov.
Project Identification Number 015609.00 No Federal Aid Project Number
TTY Telephone (888) 516-9364