Region’s tiniest town deorganizes Centerville residents grew tired of responsibilities of self-government

CENTERVILLE – Residents of the town that Yankee magazine identified in 1987 as “New England’s smallest town” – 20 of them gathered in the town office for a group photo – voted Tuesday to deorganize.

The vote fell 13-4 in favor of joining the 410 other unorganized townships in Maine.

Centerville’s move from town to township has been about a year in the works, because few want to fill the town’s positions anymore.

There are 25 Centerville residents. Of those, 21 are registered to vote.

“Four of them didn’t show up,” said Mary Gaudette, who served as the registrar of voters on Tuesday.

Not that their votes would have changed the outcome. The town has taken steps since the spring to work through the deorganization process. That included two town public meetings, with voters deciding whether they wanted to proceed.

Then came the Legislature’s acknowledgment and approval of the residents’ wishes. That allowed the referendum to go on Tuesday’s ballot to change Centerville from town to township.

Centerville will hold its last town meeting next March, 162 years after its incorporation.

Then, after June 30, the municipality of Centerville will become Centerville Township. And the Washington County commissioners, rather than the town officers, will oversee all the details, from roads to taxes.

That’s fine with all those in town who used to have a position, or still do.

The move to give up the town took place after several of the office-holders had become tired of the responsibilities – as well as all the paperwork that the state seeks.

Few wanted to take on titles on behalf of the town, some residents said Wednesday.

“Who knows what is best, you know?” said Philip Gaudette, who agreed to be a selectman earlier this year in light of the lack of others showing interest.

“We have plenty of college graduates here, intelligent people who could run the town if they wanted to. But so many just don’t want to anymore.”

Gaudette, 70, is the town’s oldest resident. He also is one of just three Centerville natives who continue to live there, although he and his wife spent 32 years away in Connecticut.

Retirement brought them back to the place where his mother, Julia Gaudette, was town treasurer for 47 years and town clerk for 17 years.

Bertha Flaherty, a neighbor, was postmaster for 38 years, doing business from her home.

Located about seven miles north of U.S. Route 1, above Jonesboro, Centerville is still rural and remote. Much of the town’s land covers thousands of acres of timber and blueberries. And much of it is held by the Passamaquoddy Tribe.

“Time marches on and things take place,” said Margaret Dorsey, the first selectman. “We’re just a small town with very few people.

“But the job of running the town just got bigger and bigger. The job outgrew the town.”

The town’s annual budget, passed last March, was about $40,000, Dorsey said. The tax rate is 13.27 mills, she said.

School costs contributed to a rise in taxes, according to Dorsey. Centerville students – there are four this year – attend Columbia Falls Elementary School and Narraguagus High School in Harrington.

Maxine Caler, once the school committee chairwoman and also once an assessor for Centerville, said she voted for the change.

“I figured it would go that way anyway,” Caler said. “It’s a relief for the ones in office.

“I guess people have lost interest in doing things for the town. The younger generations have grown up and gone away. And most people just stay to themselves now. Everybody is busy, working or doing their own thing.”