Somerville Treasurer and Tax Collector Sandra Devaney (left) and Town Clerk Samantha Peaslee count votes at Somerville’s annual town meeting on the morning of Saturday, June 22. All warrant articles passed during the meeting, which lasted about two hours. (Molly Rains photo)
At the open portion of the Somerville annual town meeting on Saturday, June 22, Somerville residents approved all 23 warrant articles, including a municipal budget of $739,637 and protection of municipal broadband ownership.
Articles 1 and 2, concerning the election of a moderator and municipal officers, were decided at the polls on June 11.
For one seat on the select board, former Road Commissioner Willard Pierpont unseated Chair Christopher Johnson, with 145 votes to Johnson’s 104.
Nick Fortune was elected road commissioner in an uncontested election, and 16 residents received write-in votes for a seat on the RSU 12 Board of Directors. Frank Hample had the most votes in this category with five in total, but as of Wednesday, June 26 he had not yet indicated whether he would accept the position, according to Somerville Town Clerk Samantha Peaslee.
On June 22, the meeting opened with a series of quick approvals of warrant items three through nine, including $199,305 for town services and operation, $396,650 for roads, $3,000 for revenue collection, $6,827 for health and safety, $74,850 in the form of a grant for the Somerville Volunteer Fire Department, $20,000 for the fire department’s reserve account, and $4,245 to be split between various local nonprofits, including the Jefferson Area Community Food Pantry, Midcoast Maine Community Action, Windsor Rescue, and others.
Russell Gates made a motion to combine articles 10-14, concerning transfer station costs, long-term debt, use of fund balances forward, an optional $20,000 contingency for emergencies, and lapse of surplus and overdraft to the town’s general fund.
Some discussion centered on article 11, which concerned an appropriation of $83,270 for long-term debt service. This debt dates back to 2017, being originally incurred for the resurfacing of Somerville Road by Hagar Enterprises Inc. After refinancing, the debt is on schedule to be completely repaid by late 2026, Johnson said.
Ultimately, the five combined articles passed.
Warrant article 15, on using revenues from fiscal year 2024 to reduce the fiscal year 2025 tax commitment, also passed, as did article 17, which authorizes the town to waive foreclosure if acquisition of a property is deemed not to be in the best interest of the town.
Articles 18 and 19, which authorized prepayment of taxes and setting an interest rate of 8% per annum on late tax payments, respectively, also passed.
Resident John Bergen suggested that rate would hurt Somerville’s “poorest” residents and recommended a lower rate, suggesting a rate of 1% over the prevailing tax anticipation note interest rates.
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Given current trends in interest rates, that rate may be no lower than the suggested 8%, according to Planning Board Chair Jackson McLeod. Ultimately, Bergen’s amendment failed and the town approved the interest rate of 8% per annum.
An article requiring the town to hold a vote in order to sell its municipal broadband network passed with no discussion. The fiber broadband currently under construction in Somerville, which is to be owned by the town, now cannot be sold or released from town ownership without voter approval.
Townspeople also passed an article allowing the town to appropriate funds from snowmobile registrations to a Somerville snowmobile club for use on trail maintenance. Somerville does not currently have an active snowmobile club, according to Treasurer Sandra Devaney.
Planning board member James Grenier said that climate change and warming winters had made snowmobiling more difficult in the area and asked whether such a club might soon become obsolete.
For now, Devaney said, the town will continue to maintain the fund, which receives a few hundred dollars yearly in registration fees, and make the funds available to a future snowmobile club if one forms. The town may choose to change this practice by writing a warrant article for a future town meeting.
A written vote on raising the tax levy limit if necessary passed 29-10, although this year’s tax commitment is not high enough to require exceeding the state-set maximum, Johnson said.
After voting had concluded, Gates addressed the crowd, thanking Johnson for his service to the town, from his time on the former Somerville School Committee to working with RSU 12, refinancing the town’s Somerville Road debt to save $35,000, and advancing the municipal broadband project.
“It’s quite a feat to get the grant that you did, at no cost to the town,” Gates said. “I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for everything.”
“There’s not much else to say except thank you,” Johnson responded. “It’s nice to be appreciated. And I’m not going anywhere – I’ll still be living in the town of Somerville.”
Representatives from Hawkeye Fiber Optics and Axiom Technologies LLC also spoke at the meeting, answering questions from residents about municipal broadband construction.
“You’ll start to see us around town, you’ll start to see us at your homes,” said Maryanne Hawkes, of Hawkeye Fiber Optics.
“It’s going to take a few months,” said Mark Ouellette, of Axiom. Residents who enrolled in the network would get internet service to their homes through Somerville’s municipal broadband network “easily before the end of this year,” he said.
Ouellette also reminded residents that they would need to sign up by Monday, July 15 to have service extended from the street into their home for free, paid for by grants acquired by Johnson and the Somerville Municipal Broadband Board.
The next meeting of the Somerville Select Board will be held on Wednesday, June 26 at 6 p.m. in the Somerville town office. For more information, go to somervillemaine.org or call 549-3828.
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