Residents elect new selectman, conclude sidewalk project at annual town meeting

PHILLIPS – Residents elected a new selectman, approved a property maintenance ordinance and cancelled a sidewalk project at the annual town meeting Thursday evening, prior to acquiring a former bank that may serve as the next town office.

The majority of the 86 registered voters that cast ballots in the initial election stayed for the entire three-hour meeting Thursday, moving through a 49-article warrant that featured a number of written ballot votes. Every expenditure article was approved as recommended by the Board of Selectmen and Budget Committee, resulting in a $1,299,709 budget. That represents an increase of $9,257 or roughly 0.7 percent over the current fiscal year. Those figures do not incorporate the Regional School Unit 58 and Franklin County budgets.

Selectman Lincoln Haines, a six-year member of the board and its current chair, was narrowly defeated by challenger Nick Caton, a carpenter and lifelong Phillips resident, after a couple of votes. The initial vote resulted in Caton receiving 43 votes, Haines receiving 35, and a third candidate, former selectman and postmistress Margaret Cosenza, receiving 8 votes. As no candidate had a majority, moderator Mike Ellis called for a second vote. Caton picked up six votes at Cosenza’s expense, and was elected to the board.

“I hope after my three-year term the town’s in a better place than it is now,” Caton said prior to the vote.

Haines was recognized with a round of applause for his six years of service.

Incumbent RSU 58 Director Lynette Abbott and former Director Sharon Dudley were both elected to the school board. Also elected as town clerk was interim Town Clerk Betty Jean Bangs. She took over for longtime Town Clerk Evelyn Wilbur, who served 18 years prior to her leaving the town in November 2017 to stay with her daughter. The town report was dedicated to Wilbur and Dain Trafton, who also recently left the community after years of serving on the town’s Planning Board and Budget Committee.

The meeting body opted to take up late-warrant articles pertaining to two controversial issues earlier in the meeting. The first, a Property Maintenance Ordinance, represented roughly two years of work on the part of the Planning Board. Chris Hardy, speaking on behalf of the board, said that the ordinance had been drafted after numerous complaints were fielded by town officials regarding certain pieces of property and their impact on the local ascetic and property values. The board, which held two public meetings about the ordinance, attempted to draft a document that preserved flexibility for the code enforcement officer and selectmen.

“As a board, we believe in this ordinance,” Hardy said. He said it was not designed to be punitive and that it was in fact less strict than the restrictions cited in state law.

Other residents were not convinced, calling the ordinance vague and arguing that many homes on the outskirts of town could be held in violation of the ordinance’s minimum standards, a condition which could result in fines. A number of people specifically targeted a requirement that property not contain three or more “uninspected, unregistered, or otherwise inoperative vehicles.” That standard would preclude the collection of parts cars, residents said.

Resident Dick Matthews said that the ordinance wasn’t perfect, but that represented the best efforts of the citizens involved in its creation. He noted that in addition to the code enforcement officer and the selectmen, residents had the ability to approach the Appeals Board.

“What recourse do you have? You have the recourse of your fellow citizens,” Matthews said.

A written ballot vote passed the new ordinance with 45 votes in favor and 38 opposed.

The vote on whether or not to kill a long-brewing sidewalk project was similarly close, with resident ultimately voting 35 in favor to 29 opposed to cease operations on the project, which began in 2011-12. The sidewalk project was proposed to rebuild sidewalks along Main Street from the bridge on Route 142 to Trecartin Park and from the corner of Pleasant Street to the corner of Depot Street. While the majority of the cost, estimated to approach $500,000, would be carried by a federal grant and the state, residents balked at the costs associated with maintaining the sidewalk for 20 years.

Selectman David Vincent suggested that an ordinance could be implemented to require adjacent property owners to take care of their portion of the walk, sparing the town the cost of buying a sidewalk plow and hiring staff. The town has sunk significant resources into the project over the past few years, Vincent noted. A total of $51,325 was estimated as the total financial impact of the project to town and walking away would leave Phillips with their paid-for engineering plan but little else.

“If we quit now, we’ll have thrown the money out,” he said.

Residents objected to being forced to maintain sidewalks, however, and uncertainties about the project’s timetable were also expressed.

“Sometimes you got to take your medicine,” one resident said, “rather than throw money after bad money.”

Residents did approve acquiring the now-vacant Skowhegan Savings Bank, located on Maine Street and the Dodge Road, at no cost. The current plan is to move the town office into the bank, which will include deed stipulations that prevent it ever serving as a lending institution. The major attraction of the site, in addition to the paved driveway and security features, is the bank vault. The current town office building does not have the means to store sensitive documents, town officials said.

Acquiring the bank building via donation was approved by the voters.