The Select Board will resume discussing the proposed warrant for the May 1 Town Meeting and will take up some new items at their meeting on Monday, April 3. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Meetinghouse and will be broadcast on local cable and live-streamed on Castus at this link.
Warrant for May 1 Town Meeting. The board discussed the warrant, including budget articles, at their last meeting, leaving a few items to be revisited. An updated warrant will be on the table April 3. Review it at pp. 21-34 of the meeting agenda packet at this link.
ARPA funds and Cemetery Association expansion request. The board will return to the Cemetery Association’s expansion project, armed with additional information. The Cemetery Association has requested $160,000 for the project, generating questions from the community, Budget Committee and Select Board in the process. The board allocated $50,000 of the town’s remaining $287,000 in ARPA funds, to be used for surveying and other preliminary work (Article 23 on the draft warrant). But the board also had questions about oversight, the Association’s relationship to the Town, and whether ARPA funds can be used in this way.
Items in the April 3 agenda packet shed light on those topics. Among the documents are a letter from a Maine Municipal Association attorney recommending against using ARPA funds in the circumstances and a memo from the Cemetery Association addressing its relationship with the Town and proposing oversight. Read them, along with an ARPA spending recap, and more at pp. 9-20.
Appointments to 250th celebration. Earlier this month, the board created a 15-person committee to plan a celebration of the town’s 250th in 2024. Four seats were set aside for members of the New Gloucester Historical Society, which voted to name Phil Blake, Tom Blake, Linda Chase and Steve Libby. The remaining 11 members will be appointed by the board. Applications are due by 6 p.m. on Monday April 3. Find the application at this link. Drop off your completed application at Town Hall or email it to Sharlene Myers at smyers@newgloucester.com.
There will be proclamations and more at the board’s April 3 meeting. Find the full agenda and related documents, including an update from Town Manager Bill Kerbin, at this link. Public comments can be submitted by email before 10 am on Monday, April 3, to townmanager@newgloucester.com and smyers@newgloucester.com. If you want your comment read aloud, please indicate that in the subject line.
— Joanne Cole
