NEWRY — Twenty eight voters assembled at Bear River Grange Hall on Monday night for the Newry Annual Town Meeting.

The first order of business was to elect Vern Maxfield by written ballot as moderator. After the ballots were counted Maxfield said he joked that he thought Joelle Corey [Newry Code Enforcement Officer] would be chosen instead. She quipped, “meeting adjourned!”

At the front of the second floor room were Selectboard Members Mandy Berry, Tink Conkright and Gary Wight as well as Town Administrator Loretta Powers.

The meeting moved along at a good pace with all but two of the 40 articles passing.

Community assistance requests were fewer this year said Powers. Bethel Historical Society sent a letter, “which we thought was a great idea.”  They received $2,000. Cancer Resource Center ($500) and Oxford County Mental Health ($500) requests will specifically help Newry residents, she said. The total for all assistance was $33,736.

Brooks Morton, who was videotaping the meeting, asked for a volunteer to help with Western Maine Access Television Channel 11.

A resident asked if the inaccessible handicapped ramp into the grange would be repaired under Article 12. Corey said it would be repaired under a different article.

Article 14 asked voters for money to repair Simonds Brook Bridge at an estimated cost of  $200,000. A resident asked, “Where is that bridge? I have lived here my whole life and never heard of it.” Another resident said he suspected that a deed would likely say Simmons or Simons, not Simonds. Article 14 passed.

Residents asked for and received specifics on Article 16, operations and maintenance of the municipal building, and Article 17, Fire department maintenance and operation. Of the nine volunteer firefighters, “the women outnumber the men,” said Corey.

Powers said they are meeting with Bethel to try to change the fees for the transfer station stickers for debris and construction because trash is very costly. “We used to get paid for recyclables but don’t anymore,” she said.

Article 27 was a vote to appropriate money from registrations and fines of dogs to enforce the animal control laws. Asked who enforces the the laws, Powers said, “We have Sue Milligan right now, she plans on retiring. If you know anybody looking to apply for the position [let us know]. All the towns are looking for someone.”

Church discussion

Morton argued for the town to further discuss Article 33, which asked townspeople to authorize the select board to sell the Newry Church and property.  He asked the people assembled to raise their hand if they had been under the church. “There is no indication that any of the engineers have been underneath the church … to me, this is a rush to judgement. This is a historical building.

“It was traditionally used one hour a week for a church service. It never used to use or need modern facilities, people planned on it,” said Morton.

“If the town’s going to keep it we’ve got to keep the upkeep. Just like this building. They are all costly,” said Powers.

Several issues were raised by various residents and addressed by others – the lack of a bathroom and septic system; the lack of a well; the Department of Transportation restrictions for on-road parking on the busy corner; the church steps being on the state’s right of way; the tight half acre of space; and finally the possibility of moving the church.

“Do you really want to spend $210,000 on a building that you don’t know what the purpose is going to be?” asked a resident. The fair market value to sell the building is $90,000.

Residents were asked to stand to more accurately count the vote of 15-10 to sell the building.

Food Sovereignty

If the town should pass the Food Sovereignty Ordinance was queried in Article 39. The ordinance allows bakers to sell goods at farm stands without a state license.

“What will this do for our citizens?” asked a resident.

“It’s a license inspection exemption,” said Powers.

Another resident asked, “Is this a solution in search of a problem?”

“It allows local produce sellers to be able to sell their baked goods without being licensed by the state,” said Maxfield.

“How will this benefit the town?” asked Morton.

“It won’t,” said Powers.

It was noted that the woman who brought the ordinance to town office to be included on the warrant was not at town meeting to speak on the ordinance.

“There is sufficient ambiguity in the ordinance with that piece alone [the face-to-face clause],” said another resident.

Article 39 was defeated.

A motion to revisit Article 33, the sale of the Newry Church by the select board, was requested by a resident.  The vote was 13-13 but needed a two-thirds vote, so did not pass.

Before the meeting was adjourned resident David Bartlett announced that he was running for re-election on the SAD 44 board and would appreciate their votes. Matt Mallen, his opponent, introduced himself and asked people to consider him for the seat, too.