Cranberry voters to face issues at meeting

CRANBERRY ISLES – Voters will be asked to authorize selectmen to spend up to $125,000 for construction of a town office when they meet for a special town meeting next week.

Frances Bartlett, town tax collector for 31 years and town clerk for the past seven, has performed her municipal duties from her home. She has announced she will retire next March, forcing selectmen to make other arrangements.

Bartlett declined to comment Sunday on her retirement.

The Cranberry Isles is a town made up of five islands just south of Mount Desert Island. They include Great and Little Cranberry islands, and Sutton, Bear and Baker islands.

The town’s year-round population is about 130. Only Great and Little Cranberry are inhabited year-round.

Selectmen on June 1 voted unanimously to relocate the town office to Great Cranberry Island, primarily for space reasons. Selectman David Stainton will work with Bartlett to compile a list of necessities for the new office, including equipment, space and archive storage.

Selectmen are considering either building a new office or restoring one of the rooms in the town’s elementary school that was used as the town office until Bartlett took over most of the town record keeping.

Other issues to be deliberated during the special town meeting include:

. Whether to expand the Board of Selectmen from three to five members.

According to First Selectman Richard Beal, state law requires town meeting voters first to express a “positive interest” in expanding the board, which it did in March, followed by a special town meeting to deliberate the question.

If voters endorse the proposal next week, election of the new selectmen would take place at the annual town meeting in March 2005.

. Whether to approve an ordinance to name streets and number dwellings in order to get the full benefit of the statewide E-911 emergency service.

Residents already can call 911, but must give the dispatcher their locations. If the proposed ordinance passes, the E-911 center in Ellsworth will get the address automatically when someone calls for help.

. Whether to empower selectmen to sell the land and house it owns on Shore Road in Southwest Harbor adjacent to the town’s parking facility.

. Whether to approve a solid waste disposal ordinance required by the state in order for the town to get permits for solid waste transfer stations on both Great and Little Cranberry islands.

The town meeting will begin at 9 a.m. next Monday at the Islesford Neighborhood House.