Castine prepares for town meeting

CASTINE – Voters will make decisions on Emerson Hall and the town’s historic preservation district when they gather next week for the annual town meeting.

The meeting to discuss municipal articles will start at 7 p.m. Monday, March 27, at Delano Auditorium on the campus of Maine Maritime Academy. The meeting will reconvene at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 29, for action on the school articles.

The selectmen and finance committee worked hard to control spending this year, according to Karen Motycka, the town’s finance officer, and the final budget reflects that effort. The proposed municipal budget this year is $1,753,874, a decrease of $52,086 from last year.

“They were very conservative about keeping that part of [the budget] pretty tight,” Motycka said.

That decrease comes despite a proposal to appropriate $250,000 for repairs and improvements to Emerson Hall. The 105-year-old building has served as the town hall in Castine and had been the traditional location for town meetings and other large gatherings, according to Town Manager Dale Abernethy in his report on the building.

The second-floor auditorium no longer can be used because it is not handicapped-accessible. Also, there is no heat to the upper floor.

Some work has been done around the building, and this year, the selectmen propose to begin work on the interior of the building.

Major items in this phase of the project include foundation work, a new heating system, and installation of an elevator. The project could be done in two phases, Abernethy wrote, but that probably would increase the cost. The selectmen have proposed raising $125,000 from taxes this year and $125,000 that would be repaid through taxation next year. The final details of the borrowing package will need to be approved at a subsequent town meeting.

Although the project is a major undertaking, Abernethy warned that Emerson Hall will still need an estimated half-million dollars in repairs after this project is completed. Abernethy indicated that the selectmen will develop a long-term improvement plan for the building.

Voters also will be asked to approve a new historic preservation ordinance to replace the existing ordinance and to amend the new ordinance in order to expand the town’s historic preservation district to include the entire “on-neck” or village area. The two proposals have generated a lot of interest in town and are likely to draw much discussion during the town meeting session.

Two articles have been added to the warrant included in the printed town report. One would allocate $10,000 as matching funds for a comprehensive plan update grant; the other asks voters to approve the detailed, $1.2 million borrowing package for the construction of a 600,000-gallon replacement water reservoir and installation of a new 12-inch water main from the reservoir to Battle Avenue.

The project and the borrowing were initially approved last year at the town meeting.

The proposed school budget is $1,124,063, an increase of 6.8 percent or $72,395. Almost half of that increase comes from high school tuition, which will increase by $32,593. The town also will receive about $25,000 less in state subsidy this year.