Stonington voters to decide on town hall improvements

STONINGTON – Voters on Monday will decide whether to fund continued improvements to the town hall on Main Street.

Several articles on the warrant for the annual town meeting seek funds for work at the town hall.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. until noon at the fire station. Discussion of the warrant articles will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the community center gymnasium.

Crews have worked during the past year renovating and rearranging the main-floor office space in the building. Work is almost completed, and there will be an open house at the building throughout the day Monday, according to Town Manager Richard Avery.

Two articles ask voters to approve funding for Phase II of the project. The first, for $40,000, is actually a continuation of the first phase, Avery said Thursday. Improvements to the side entrance to the building were not included in the initial work, he said. The $40,000 would improve the entrance and the stairs to the second floor.

A separate article asks voters to authorize selectmen to borrow up to $160,000 for improvements to the second floor. The major expense would be installation of an elevator that would provide access to the second and third floors. Work also would include improvements to the second floor to create a meeting space.

“It’s important to improve the entrance and access to the second floor with the stairs, even if we don’t go for the bigger expense at this time,” Avery said.

Residents also will be asked to approve $32,000 as the first payment on the first phase of the project.

The selectmen are proposing to install public toilets at available space in the firehouse.

“We install porta-potties down there every year, and they’re not very popular,” Avery said.

The selectmen have increased the amount in the town parks account by $15,000 to cover that cost, he said.

The selectmen also propose continuing the program of extra police coverage in town and will ask voters to allocate $70,000 for that program. The town now contracts with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department for added patrols.

“That’s $10,000 more than last year, of which we spent only a small amount,” Avery said, “but the coverage would be at the same rate we’re doing now, which is 30 hours a week.”

Voters will be asked to allocate $4,000 toward a reserve account to fund repairs on Bayview Street, where a section of the sea wall is slowly being pushed out, and to raise $5,000 to help fund the establishment of a lobster hatchery in town.

“The selectmen support fishing in town,” Avery said. “They are aware the town really depends on lobsters. There has been a hatchery in town in the past, and their impression is that the fishermen credit it with some increase in the catches.”

There are three candidates for two three-year terms on the Board of Selectmen: incumbent Richard Larrabee, John Steed and Robert Braun. There are also three candidates for two seats on the CSD school committee: incumbent Lawrence “Skip” Greenlaw, Joe Babbit and Linda Nelson. School committee members are elected by a combined vote from the two CSD towns, Deer Isle and Stonington.