ISLAND FALLS, Maine — A small group of about 31 Island Falls residents spent more than three hours hashing over warrant articles Saturday afternoon at the town’s municipal building.
A budget of $931,240 was approved by voters. That budget is an increase of $93,604 (11 percent) over the previous year.
Interest in serving on town boards was sparse as there were no candidates for an open seat on the board of selectmen, nor were there any candidates for a vacancy on the RSU 50 school board.
Keith MacKenzie received 14 votes as a write-in candidate for the town’s board of selectmen. However, once the town meeting portion began Saturday, Town Manager Dave Dionne read a letter from MacKenzie declining to accept the seat.
If there had been multiple candidates on the ballot, the seat would simply go to the person who received the second highest vote total. But since there were no candidates, the process must take a different route.
According to the town manager, the board of selectmen can call for a special election to fill the seat or they could put the decision back out to the voters at the next election, which would be the RSU 50 school budget vote. Or the board could simply leave the seat empty until next year’s town meeting.
The selectmen will discuss which of these options they will pursue at their next regular meeting.
Greg Ryan was successfully elected as a write-in candidate to the RSU 50 board.
Fred Anderson served as moderator for the meeting and questioned the board on the wording of the warrant stating he felt attendance at the meeting was low because of it. The time and date for the meeting was featured on the second page of the warrant.
“That information should be in the body of the letter,” Anderson said. “Where are all the people? They are not here.”
At the polls on Thursday, residents approved three referendum questions — two of which dealt with a “Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE)” ordinance. The ordinances essentially will allow residents to enter into agreements with Efficiency Maine for energy-saving improvements to their homes.
The article for administration drew considerable discussion, since it featured an increase of $9,116. Some voters questioned the hours that the town office was open and if so many employees were needed. Another resident questioned why the town manager was allowed to work from home one day a week.
The article ultimately passed by a vote of 18-8.
Other areas that saw an increase were Ambulance Service, $141,623 (an increase of $15,052) and public works, $248,985 (up $71,811).
Voters opted to raise an additional $1,500 for the Island Falls Historical Society, bringing the total appropriation to $2,500. These funds are used to cover heating expenses for the museum.
