WHITEFIELD, Maine — Whitefield voters ushered in several major changes at the annual town meeting this month, but defeated one. Whitefield will move forward with the removal of the Coopers Mills Dam, explore a contract with a solar-energy company to power municipal buildings with renewable energy, and join the National Flood Insurance Program.
Voters rejected an elderly tax deferral ordinance, which would have provided tax relief to seniors meeting certain criteria, by 10 votes.
More than 120 voters filled the Whitefield Elementary School gymnasium on Saturday, March 19, to vote on what Selectman Tony Marple said were “a number of complex issues.” Discussion of the proposals for dam removal, solar energy, flood-plain management, and elderly tax deferral accounted for more than half of the four-hour town meeting.
Voters moved the question for each of the proposals to end discussion and bring the proposals forward for a vote.
Following a break in the meeting, only about 40 residents reconvened to vote on the municipal budget, which makes up about 32 percent of Whitefield’s tax commitment.
With some amendments to reduce the budget, voters approved a municipal budget of about $1,096,447, a decrease of 1.53 percent from the previous year’s budget of $1,113,443.
The town is in good financial shape, Marple said when providing an overview of the budget, which is why selectmen asked voters to approve the use of $155,000 from surplus, $320,000 from excise tax revenue, and $46,444 from a state road grant to reduce the amount of the municipal budget necessary to raise from taxes.
“We want to return the surplus to the taxpayers,” Marple said. Voters approved using the funds to reduce the tax commitment by $521,444 – nearly half of the expenditures approved at the town meeting.
The flood-plain management ordinance, a prerequisite to joining the National Flood Insurance Program, was the first to hit the floor for voter discussion. Some voters expressed concern joining the program would force them to purchase flood insurance.
Whitefield Planning Board Chair Jim Torbert spoke in favor of the ordinance and joining the flood insurance program; Whitefield was previously the only municipality in Lincoln County not to participate. That has now changed, as voters approved the ordinance with only scattered votes in opposition.
The Coopers Mills Dam removal was the next warrant article to be debated. The article asked voters if the town should enter into an agreement with the Atlantic Salmon Federation and the Midcoast Conservancy to remove the dam, construct three dry hydrants for fire protection, and create a public space for recreation and education in the dam’s place.
The proposal included the establishment of Atlantic Salmon Federation-funded accounts: $30,000 for the maintenance of the dry hydrants, $7,500 for the maintenance of the site, $25,000 to improve public access to the Sheepscot River in other areas of Whitefield, and $15,000 to go toward the replacement of the Vigue Road culvert.
Andrew Goode, the Atlantic Salmon Federation’s vice president of U.S. operations, explained the work of his organization and Whitefield’s Coopers Mills Dam Committee, which explored several options before zeroing in on the proposal presented to voters.
There was minimal discussion before voters moved the question. George Hendsbee expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of the dry hydrant planned for construction on the West Branch of the Sheepscot River, which sometimes floods.
Hendsbee also expressed concern that the $30,000 allotted for maintenance of the dry hydrants would be spent on unrelated expenses and taxpayers would be stuck with future maintenance costs.
According to Goode, once the dry hydrants are installed, they are “pretty bulletproof” and will not require much maintenance. Whitefield Fire Chief Scott Higgins said the dry-hydrant account will be reserved strictly for their maintenance, and the three-hydrant system was designed for redundancy in the event that one of the hydrants cannot be used.
With only scattered votes in opposition, the removal of the Coopers Mills Dam was overwhelmingly approved, and the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Midcoast Conservancy, and Whitefield will move forward with revamping the dam site.
The vote on the elderly tax-deferral ordinance split the house. The question immediately followed the vote on the Coopers Mills Dam. Resident Peter Froehlich introduced his reasons for requesting the development of the ordinance.
The ordinance would have enabled seniors who meet a certain criteria to defer payment of property taxes, which would eventually be collected once the senior citizen moves, passes away, or no longer meets the criteria of the program. Whitefield would have been the second municipality in Maine to adopt the ordinance, had it been enacted.
While Froehlich said the ordinance would be a “win-win” because the town would not lose money and it would help people, selectmen expressed hesitation due to the number of unknowns with the ordinance.
Selectmen did not include recommendations in the warrant for the articles related to solar energy, dam removal, or the flood-plain management or elderly tax-deferral ordinances.
Pressed by voters, selectmen expressed concern about the ordinance, the fact that it did not include an asset test, the administrative burden it would place on the town office, and the conditions of property the town would place a lien on as a result of tax deferral.
When the proposal came to a vote, the count was too close for the outcome to be determined. The crowd was split up, with supporters and opponents congregating on separate sides of the gymnasium so an accurate count could be taken.
It was the first time the house was split to determine the outcome of a vote at town meeting in a very long time, municipal officials said. The ordinance failed, 63-53.
A resident made a motion to take article 33, which asked if the town would authorize selectmen to negotiate a contract for the installation of solar panels on the fire station to power municipal buildings, out of turn so it could be discussed before the numbers in the crowd tapered off.
Erik Ekholm introduced the warrant article to voters and the reasons why he requested it be put on the warrant. There were two main reasons, Ekholm said: a moral reason and a financial reason. The proposal would not only save the town money in electricity costs, it would also reduce the town’s carbon emissions, he said.
Residents expressed concern that the laws related to net-metering, which would allow the solar energy produced by the array to be applied as credit to power meters at other town buildings, could change. They were also concerned about future maintenance costs for the solar panels.
Selectmen were again asked to weigh in with their personal recommendations; some selectmen were in complete support of the program; some were undecided.
While ReVision Energy worked to develop a power-purchase agreement proposal for Whitefield for the solar array, selectmen would place the project out to bid before determining which company would perform the work, they said.
If the town decides to purchase the solar installation after six years, it would again require a vote at town meeting, selectmen said. While several residents voted in opposition to the warrant article, the motion carried with a clear majority.
Voters also approved extending the term of the road commissioner from one to three years and approved the use of $95,000 of surplus to purchase a used road grader.
Few residents remained to vote on the municipal budget. The town official salaries and benefits article was increased on the floor by $6,000 by Chair Dennis Merrill to enable selectmen to request bids for assessing services.
The town attorney has advised that it would be better for the assessors’ agent to be a contracted position instead of an employee of the town, Merrill said. A decrease of $12,000 in the amount needed for solid waste disposal compensated for the increase, selectmen said.
With the municipal budget set, the tax commitment will be determined based on education costs, which make up about 61 percent of the tax commitment, and the county tax, which accounts for about 6.8 percent of the budget.