Five enter race for two OOB seats - Sept. 29, 2011
By David Harry
Staff Writer
The bond to renovate and expand Edith Belle Libby Memorial Library, changes to the town charter and a revised cost-sharing plan for Regional School Unit 23 are already part of November elections in Old Orchard Beach.
Nomination papers filed before Monday’s deadline added five names to the ballot for two Town Council seats. RSU 23 Board of Education member Gary Curtis is unopposed in seeking a new three-year term.
Incumbent Councilor Sharri MacDonald is seeking a new two-year term, but incumbent Councilor Shawn O’Neill did not file nomination papers.
Joining MacDonald on the council ballot are Michael Coleman, Dana Furtado, Eriq Manson and Maria Pastulovic.
The Council and Board of Education elections are accompanied by a $2 million bond question for the library expansion. The project could cost as much as $2.5 million and double the size of the 3,400-square-foot library built in 1956. The 20-year bond is anticipated to require more than $833,000 in interest payments and $250,000 already raised privately by Friends of the Libby Library. The group also has pledged to raise an additional $250,000 in the next five years.
Old Orchard Beach voters also will decide on proposed changes to the town charter to expand the size of the Council from five to seven members. The change would create six seats with three-year terms and one seat with a one-year term. Councilors would be limited to seven consecutive years of service and elections for Council seats would be staggered to prevent overturning the entire board in one election.
Additional town charter revisions remove references to the Old Orchard Beach School Department, which merged with school departments in Saco and Dayton in 2009 to form RSU 23.
How the towns pay for educating students comprises a referendum question on ballots in Old Orchard Beach, Dayton and Saco. The question asks voters to approve a revision to section 13B of the RSU 23 organization plan. The change would factor in the percentage of local funds used to operate each former district in fiscal year 2008 to the current local funding formula used to supplement subsidies from the Maine Department of Education.
The election warrant for the question details changes affecting fiscal year 2012 spending by creating what is called a “maximum base amount.” The revised funding formula would require Saco residents to pay $1.1 million of the projected $2.4 million local RSU 23 share. Old Orchard Beach residents would pay $967,000 and Dayton residents would pay almost $356,000, according to the election warrant.
The funding plan would eventually require town shares to be assessed at 50 percent of enrollment and 50 percent of local valuations while phasing out the maximum base amount over four years.
Public hearings on the bond and charter questions will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday during the regular Town Council meeting.
A candidate forum sponsored by the Old Orchard Beach Chamber of Commerce will be held next at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Town Council chambers.
Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 8 at Old Orchard Beach High School.
Staff Writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.
Staff Writer
The bond to renovate and expand Edith Belle Libby Memorial Library, changes to the town charter and a revised cost-sharing plan for Regional School Unit 23 are already part of November elections in Old Orchard Beach.
Nomination papers filed before Monday’s deadline added five names to the ballot for two Town Council seats. RSU 23 Board of Education member Gary Curtis is unopposed in seeking a new three-year term.
Incumbent Councilor Sharri MacDonald is seeking a new two-year term, but incumbent Councilor Shawn O’Neill did not file nomination papers.
Joining MacDonald on the council ballot are Michael Coleman, Dana Furtado, Eriq Manson and Maria Pastulovic.
The Council and Board of Education elections are accompanied by a $2 million bond question for the library expansion. The project could cost as much as $2.5 million and double the size of the 3,400-square-foot library built in 1956. The 20-year bond is anticipated to require more than $833,000 in interest payments and $250,000 already raised privately by Friends of the Libby Library. The group also has pledged to raise an additional $250,000 in the next five years.
Old Orchard Beach voters also will decide on proposed changes to the town charter to expand the size of the Council from five to seven members. The change would create six seats with three-year terms and one seat with a one-year term. Councilors would be limited to seven consecutive years of service and elections for Council seats would be staggered to prevent overturning the entire board in one election.
Additional town charter revisions remove references to the Old Orchard Beach School Department, which merged with school departments in Saco and Dayton in 2009 to form RSU 23.
How the towns pay for educating students comprises a referendum question on ballots in Old Orchard Beach, Dayton and Saco. The question asks voters to approve a revision to section 13B of the RSU 23 organization plan. The change would factor in the percentage of local funds used to operate each former district in fiscal year 2008 to the current local funding formula used to supplement subsidies from the Maine Department of Education.
The election warrant for the question details changes affecting fiscal year 2012 spending by creating what is called a “maximum base amount.” The revised funding formula would require Saco residents to pay $1.1 million of the projected $2.4 million local RSU 23 share. Old Orchard Beach residents would pay $967,000 and Dayton residents would pay almost $356,000, according to the election warrant.
The funding plan would eventually require town shares to be assessed at 50 percent of enrollment and 50 percent of local valuations while phasing out the maximum base amount over four years.
Public hearings on the bond and charter questions will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday during the regular Town Council meeting.
A candidate forum sponsored by the Old Orchard Beach Chamber of Commerce will be held next at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Town Council chambers.
Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 8 at Old Orchard Beach High School.
Staff Writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.
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