Central Lincoln County School System Superintendent Steve Bailey addresses the South Bristol annual town meeting Tuesday, March 8. Voters passed the education budget and two warrant articles for capital projects at the school. (Maia Zewert photo)
South Bristol voters approved the municipal and education budgets, as well as two capital projects for South Bristol School, during a relatively quiet annual town meeting Tuesday, March 8.
Moderator Jim Gallagher kept the meeting, including a 15-minute intermission, to just under 1 1/2 hours.
The $736,216 municipal budget, a decrease of 0.42 percent from the previous year, passed with limited discussion among those in attendance.
In addition, voters passed two warrant articles authorizing the selectmen to appropriate $300,000 from earnings on the town’s investments.
The first article authorized the selectmen to appropriate an amount not to exceed $70,000 from the Stratton earnings and dividends account for the removal of an underground oil tank and replacement of the boiler at the school.
The other article authorized the selectmen to appropriate an amount not to exceed $230,000 for the creation of a kitchen within the school, a project the school committee has been discussing for almost a year.
South Bristol residents vote in favor of an article relating to the education budget during the annual town meeting in the South Bristol School gym Tuesday, March 8. Voters passed all 42 articles on the warrant in an hour and a half with little discussion. (Maia Zewert photo)
A member of the audience asked if by adding the kitchen, the school could be considered an emergency shelter.
“I believe this could be used,” Selectman Ken Lincoln said. “It won’t be a dedicated Red Cross shelter, but it would definitely be a viable option.”
Voters also passed the 2016-2017 education budget of $1,588,698.45, a decrease from the 2015-2016
budget of $83,183.55 or 4.89 percent, with a vote of 37-0.
Elsewhere in the meeting, Betsy Graves was re-elected to serve another five-year term on the South Bristol Budget Committee.
Selectman Chester Rice thanked the five members of the centennial committee, Graves, Caril-Anne Lincoln, Tammy Plummer, Donna Plummer, and Tamara Poland-Kaler, for their hard work to organize the celebration.
“They did an outstanding job and pulled it off beautifully,” Rice said.
Rice also thanked Toby Plummer for his excellent work during his 11 years as the town’s snowplowing contractor.
After receiving a send-off during his last South Bristol School Committee meeting Tuesday, March 1, Bruce Farrin Jr. received a round of applause during the meeting for his nine years of service on the committee.
The selectmen expressed disappointment that no representatives from county or state government attended the annual town meeting.
“You would think they would be here campaigning,” Lincoln said. “Admittedly, there aren’t a lot of people down here, but there are still about 900 voters in this town.”
Seventh-grader Nuala Glendinning and eighth-grader Emma Scott drew the raffle ticket for a boat built by the SBS Class of 2016 as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Maine Maritime Museum.
“The seventh- and eighth-grade classes want to thank you all for the donations to help with the trip to Washington, D.C.,” Scott said.
The raffle was won by Anne Brown.
