The Edgecomb Fire Department will get a new, $675,000 home, Edgecomb voters unanimously decided Saturday.
“We appreciate the support of all the townspeople. We recognize their concerns and we’re glad they could see their way clear to vote for us,” said Assistant Fire Chief Larry Omland.
“The people acknowledged the work of the fire station, which is so crucial,” Selectman Jack Sarmanian said. The current fire station, built by volunteers in the mid-1940s, suffers from a lack of space and serious structural damage. According to a document provided by the department, “the entire building is closed to the public and only used for storing vehicles.”
After the meeting, Sarmanian expressed pleasure and relief. “It went very well,” he said. “We’ve worked very, very hard.”
The fire station was hardly the most controversial issue. The confusion surrounding the meeting’s closest vote was, perhaps, predicted with a typo that put a question mark after the article in question. Article 31 read, “To see if the town will vote to create the Edgecomb Utility District?”
Outgoing Selectman Chair John Johnson urged voters to reject the article. Johnson called plans for the District “inadequate.”
“There’s so many questions right now,” Johnson said. He suggested that voters wait for the Utility Committee, on which he serves, to come back next year with a more workable plan.
Byron Johnson was dissatisfied with the selectman’s advice. “The Select Board has done a miserable job,” he said.
Eleanor Eide gave voice to the apparent frustration of many in the room. “We don’t know what we’re voting on,” she said.
Former selectman Bob Zak eventually spoke for the majority. “Let’s vote it down now and try to get a better handle on it… this affects a lot of people,” he said.
The article failed, 42-31.
Only one other vote created a significant split – a proposal to enlarge the Board of Selectmen from three to five members. Selectman Jack Sarmanian, speaking on behalf of the Board, asked voters to reject the change. “We were not consulted in any way, form or fashion. We work very diligently and very hard,” he said.
Sarmanian suggested that, instead of two more selectmen, the town should consider an administrative assistant.
Former selectman Jo Cameron and Planning Board member Jarryl Larson led the drive to bring the proposal before voters. Cameron said that, with five members, the board will have more experience, expertise and flexibility.
Another former selectman, Bob Zak, expressed concern with a fundamental aspect of the proposal: finding two more members. “Where are these people going to come from? Are they going to be committed?” he asked. None of Edgecomb’s eight races for town positions were contested this year.
In response, Larson said the larger board will attract candidates. “They see it more as a team approach… we have people who want to serve,” she said.
Marilee Harris, secretary for the Board of Selectmen, said “five is a possibility,” if the population grows, but for the present, she agreed with Sarmanian. “Someone who can type will be more efficient than someone who can just talk about the issues.”
The article failed, 53-27.
Voters unanimously approved $2000 apiece for the Wiscasset Public Library and the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library, but not before selectmen received a stern rebuke regarding their handling of the matter.
The libraries asked for much more – Wiscasset requested $9200, Boothbay $3000 – but, because they failed to submit the petition required of every non-profit organization requesting town funds, the Board of Selectmen reduced their request.
“Every year we have voted to give the Wiscasset library the money they ask for, sometimes six or seven thousand dollars,” Tom Boudin said. “[The Selectmen] changed the rules right midstream [and] didn’t tell anybody.”
Town Clerk Claudia Coffin left her post alongside the moderator to address the selectmen directly. “Let the voters decide what they want to do,” she said.
Sarmanian defended the figures in a phone interview Tuesday. “That’s about what they got last year,” he said. The selectmen were “trying to be very conservative” in order to avoid increases in the budget.
Moderator Ervin Snyder announced a 15-minute recess before consideration of an amendment to Edgecomb’s TIF district that was the subject of hot debate at a May 17 meeting. “Now we’re getting to the good stuff,” Snyder said.
The amendment passed with little fanfare, as did a handful of relatively minor expenditures leading to consideration of the new fire station. Edgecomb resident David Nutt spoke first. “On March 8, I got a call,” he said. “My house was on fire.”
“The Edgecomb Fire Department got there in an amazingly short amount of time,” he said. Although a portion of Nutt’s house had already sustained heavy damage, a more recent addition was saved.
Larson recognized the wide range of services the department provides. “Most of their work is EMT work. Distance from an accident, distance from your spouse who is having a heart attack, is a huge factor.”
The article passed unanimously, receiving applause from voters.
A final, minor controversy concerned the use of $100,000 of TIF funds to lower the cost of the $675,000 loan for the new fire station.
“The town signed a contract, a unilateral, unconditional contract, for a pumping station,” Larson said, a pumping station she and others fear may not materialize if TIF funds go to the fire station.
The article, however, passed without dissent, although Byron Johnson later said he accidentally voted yes.
Voters elected town officials at the polls Friday. Jessica Chubbuck (Selectman), Barry Hathorne and Jarryl Larson (Planning Board), Sarah Clifford (School Committee), Deborah Boucher (Tax Collector), Claudia Coffin (Town Clerk and Treasurer) and Scott Griffin (Road Commissioner) were all elected in uncontested races.
