'That's a first': Kennebunk calls off plans for March vote (but could reconsider)

KENNEBUNK, Maine – Minutes after deciding to send two issues to voters for a special town meeting in March, the Kennebunk Select Board decided Jan. 11 not to hold the March vote after all.

“That’s a first,” said Select Board Chair Blake Baldwin.

The decision means Kennebunk voters will have to wait a few months longer, until the annual town meeting in June, to decide the two issues at hand. But that timeline could change. Baldwin said the board expects to revisit the possibility of scheduling a special town meeting before June during its next meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 25.

'Need to protect our interests': Kennebunkport to hire lawyer in RSU 21 recall fight

Baldwin and Selectperson Bill Ward were the only two who voted in favor of holding the March vote. Baldwin said it did not make sense to him that the board voted to move items to a special meeting in March and then voted not to hold the meeting.

“That’s disappointing to me,” he said. “I don’t get that.”

The two issues at hand: a proposed contract zone for a property on Perkins Lane, on which a new home for a local wounded veteran would be built; and a proposed zoning amendment pertaining to York Street.

The select board approved both items for a special meeting on March 15, following a public hearing for each.

Vice Chair Shiloh Schulte asked why the town was proposing a special town meeting for just two issues. Baldwin said that was a fair question, and Town Manager Michael Pardue and Town Engineer Chris Osterrieder provided the answer: the proposed contract zone for Perkins Lane is a time-sensitive issue, following a schedule that began in November.

Selectpersons Lisa Pratt and Kortney Nedeau expressed surprise that other issues before the community – ones related to the town’s comprehensive plan, public works facility, and charter review – were not being proposed to go before voters in March. Voters will address those matters at the annual town meeting in June, Baldwin said.

When asked, Town Clerk Merton Brown said a special election in March would cost about $1,000, an amount largely attributable to advertising the warrant in local newspapers in advance. Brown said he would have used paper ballots, a more economical approach, for the occasion.

Schulte asked if the developers involved in the Perkins Lane and York Street proposals might be interested in paying for part of the special meeting expenses – something other developers have done in the past.

Osterrieder said he had not brought up that idea with developers.

“It’s a little bit late to thrust that upon them,” he said.

After a few of his colleagues reflected on the decision, Selectperson Frank Paul suggested the subject of a special meeting could be revisited at an upcoming meeting.

“Putting off a wounded warrior three months being able to move into his house doesn’t go,” Paul said.

Home for Our Troops is a publicly funded nonprofit organization that builds and donates homes for severely injured veterans in the post-9/11 era. The organization constructs these homes in the communities where the veteran wants to live.

“Most of these veterans have sustained injuries, including multiple limb amputations, partial or full paralysis, and/or severe traumatic brain injury,” the organization says on its website. “These homes restore some of the freedom and independence our veterans sacrificed while defending our country, and enable them to focus on their family, recovery, and rebuilding their lives.”

'It's a mess': Kennebunk school board recall effort stalled by 2,400 formal challenges

According to Pardue, Jan. 11 was the last opportunity to hold a first public hearing on both items if the town were to have had its special meeting on March 15. But a meeting could be held in April, he added.

Pardue added that March 15 also would have been the date of the town’s recall election to decide whether Kennebunk resident Tim Stentiford should be removed from the RSU 21 School Board. However, Brown and his staff are addressing more than 2,000 challenges to the signatures that were on the petitions seeking the recall, so the March date is no longer an option.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kennebunk ME nixes plans for March vote, but could reconsider