Dover-Foxcroft to vote on charter panel in June

DOVER-FOXCROFT – Residents will decide in June if they want to form a charter commission to review and recommend changes to the town charter and if so, who will serve on the commission.

Selectmen on Monday voted to place both questions on the June ballot. If the first question fails, then the second question will be moot, according to Town Manager Jack Clukey.

Residents recently embraced an ordinance to carry out the vote to implement secret ballot voting in the community; however, some residents wanted the change to be carried out through an amendment in the town’s charter.

Selectman Joyce Perry, who earlier this month submitted a petition signed by 400 residents asking for a charter amendment, made the motion during open session on Monday to also place the charter amendment on the June ballot. Her motion was supported by the board.

“The town will now have the opportunity to vote this June to have a charter committee to address serious oversights in our current charter and to consider our future needs in local government,” Perry said on Tuesday.

Nomination papers for the six elected charter commission positions will be available on March 20. Selectmen will appoint three additional members to the commission.

In other business on Monday, selectmen approved one-year contracts for fire protection to Atkinson of $4,061 and to Bowerbank of $1,593. The town provides fire protection to the Dover-Foxcroft side of Atkinson and to the Dover-Foxcroft side of Bowerbank. The latter represents a small percentage of properties, according to Clukey. The town of Milo also provides fire protection to the two communities.

A request for $1,000 from the Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society was forwarded to the budget advisory committee for consideration in next year’s budget.