min_2013_05_29 - Spe.. - Town of Scarborough

MINUTESSCARBOROUGH TOWN COUNCILWEDNESDAY – MAY 29, 2013SPECIAL MEETING – 7:00 P.M.Item 1. Call to Order. Chairman Ahlquist called the special meeting of the Scarborough TownCouncil to order at 7:03 p.m.Item 2. Pledge of Allegiance.Item 3. Roll Call. Roll was called by Yolande P. Justice, Town Clerk. Thomas J. Hall, Town Managerwas also present.Judith L. Roy, Vice-ChairKatherine A. St. ClairJessica L. HolbrookEdward NMI Blaise, IIIRichard J. Sullivan, Jr.James E. BenedictRonald D. Ahlquist, Council ChairItem 4. General Public Comments.Kelly Murphy of 12 Eagles Nest Drive and a member of the Board of Education spoke on theproposed budget. She spoke on the original proposed budget that the school had approved andthen spoke on the proposed budget that the Board approved last week.Scott Furr of 16 Old Colony Lane and spoke in support of the proposed School Budget andurge the Council to support it as well.Carrie Goulder of 10 Thomas Drive read a letter from her daughter asking that the specialclasses not be cut. The kids dream big and what do you tell them when the school budget iscut? She then read a list of where Scarborough and the area schools stoodJeff Ertman of 15 Fairway Drive urged the Council to consider no further cuts. The costs tokeep students have gone up and we need to maintain the quality of education. The Councilneeds to be good stewards of the Town and people move here because of high quality schools.David Dittmer of 11 Woodside Drive commented on the proposed budget. If the budget wereapproved as is it would be a cost of an average of $.50 a day. He urged the Council to supportthe proposed budget.Jeff Jordan of 3 Spring Brook Lane spoke on the proposed budget and to find a way to better tonotify the public of the upcoming election. The proposed cuts are focusing on the arts andextra curricula activities. Our children deserve to have programs that give them the opportunityto grow.Alec Leng of 11 Abigail Way and a student at the Middle School spoke in support of theSchool’s budget and urged the Council to approve the budget as is and presented the TownCouncil with a petition with approximately 161 signatures of other students supporting theproposed budget.Michelle Arpin of 9 Coulthard Farm Road thanked the Council for supporting the last schoolbudget. Scarborough parents do support the schools by volunteering in the office, the classroomor in the library. Please support the budget as proposed.Omer Durdag of 6 Haystack Circle spoke against any further cuts that might be considered. Ifthere are further cuts you would be taking from the students to learn how to make a living.1

Kara O’Brien of 24 Woodfield Drive, a parent and volunteer, strongly believed the low voterturnout does not reflect the way residents feel and urged the Council to approve the proposedbudget before them.Paul Koziell of 4 Lillian Way stated that he has two children in the system and is an activevolunteer. He supports the proposed budget. Budgets do not please everyone; this budget is acompromise and cannot be cut further.Larry Pierce of 9 Tenney Lane did not support any further cuts.Order No. 13-47. First reading on the proposed FY2014 School Budget and schedule a publichearing and second reading Wednesday, June 5, 2013. Christine Massengill, Chair of the Board ofEducation, presented a power point presentation on the proposed budget before the Town Council andthen asked the Council to support that proposed budget before them.The following spoke on this item:Ben McDougall of 3 Partridge Lane moved to Scarborough because of the Schools. He askedthe Council not to cut any further.Chris Taylor 168 Black Point Road was shocked at the outcome of the last election. He felt thatit was not a fair representation of the town. He hoped that the Council would not have furthercuts. This is now and we cannot look back only look forward.David Green of 135 Beech Ridge Road stated that the budget is not being cut; it is up from lastyear – those on fixed incomes cannot afford a further increase in their taxes.Debra Fusch-Ertman of Fairway Drive spoke on how low the taxes are compared to othercommunities. We are educating a future workforce and they need a good education.William Bly of 10 Ottawa Wood Road stated we can no longer tread water and the wheels onthe train have come off. We are willing to invest in the future of the town, ins the TownCouncil? We care about the schools and urged the Council to support the proposed budget.Kristina Pettingill of 11 Hunter Point Drive gave a brief overview on what it is like to havestudents in the system - more sports fees, after school fees, music fees, equipment fees. Wechose Scarborough because of the schools.Doug Bennett of 32 Tall Pines Road asked the Council to support the proposed school budget.Surrounding communities support their schools, we do not. We need to move forward. Howmuch deeper can we cut?Derek Volk of 4 Elbridge Oliver Way noted that he had moved to Scarborough because of theschools. He is a middle school softball coach and he worries about the cuts that could affectthe sports; there are students who only play at the school. He urged the Council to support theproposed budget.Jeff Porter of Cumberland Way has two children in the school system. The system tries to goodthings without a lot of funding. He spoke on layoffs and cuts – there is no consistency or notenough supplies. The busses and technology is way behind what other communities.Josh Caiazzo of 17 Elmwood Avenue and a freshman at the high school urged the Council tosupport the proposed budget that is being presented by the Board, please do not cut furthermonies. He stated that one cannot complain if you do not vote.Justin Caiazzo of 17 Elmwood Ave and a 6 th grade at the Middle School asked the Council tonot make further cuts.Ben Farino of 8 Crossing Drive thanked the Council for allowing the resident to speak on this.He felt lucky that we had a chance to talk about the budget again. He spoke on larger classsizes and the loss of foreign languages. He urged the Council to support the proposed budget.2

Robert Mitchell of Willowdale Road stated that he supported the budget. Leadership startswith yourself pointing out that he and his family give back to the Schools through donating tothe Scarborough Foundation – others could do the same. He too urged the public to get out andvote.Nancy Jones of 126 Broadturn Road thanked the Council for the opportunity to speak thisevening. She noted that the South Portland City Council approved a $43 million School Budget– they support their schools. Students need a quality education and she has seen changes overthe past 11 years, not all for the good. She would not like to see any further cuts. Look at theratio of what the school has to other areas of town- please support the proposed School Budget.Danielle Sullivan of 361 Holmes Road spoke on the proposed budget and asked the TownCouncil to support the budget that is being proposed.Ted Meserve of 25 Harlow Street noted that those who voted against the budget did not meanthat did not support the schools. He was disappointed on comments regarding the vote on thebudget – to think everyone is against the students is wrong. Possible cuts that should be lookedat is in the administration – why are there so many?Jane Leng of 11 Abigail Way supports the proposed budget and would not like to see furthercuts.Leslie Lagerquist of 19 Partridge Lane stated she wished she could understand how the budgetworks. We are all one community whether, young or old - education is critical. She noted thatit was time for her family to look for another house and we might consider moving to anothermunicipality because of the schools.Cheryl Greenleaf of 31 Stanford Lane supported the school budgetTom Michaud 149 Old Blue Point Road stated its not only the parents who support the schools;I am not a parent but I support the schools.Lisa Bendetson of 21 Sequoia Lane noted that just because you can do something does notmean you should and asked the Council to support the proposed budget.Drew Gwyer of 26 Ocean Avenue supports the schools and noted there had been no commentsregarding the Towns budget maybe it too should be revisited.Maureen Desveaux of 15 Wynmoor Drive noted that her youngest child is not getting thequality of education what her oldest child is getting. The school is being thrown under the bus.She too wonder whether the Town’s Budget could be revisited.Motion by Councillor Roy, seconded by Councilor St. Clair, to move approval of Order No. 13-47, asfollows:Be it ordered that the Scarborough Town Council moves approval of the first reading to adoptthe Fiscal Year 2014 School Budget and schedule a public hearing for 6:00 p.m. onWednesday, June 5, 2013, as well as the second reading; and,Be it further ordered, that the Scarborough Town Council hereby appropriates, for schoolpurposes, the Education Operating Budget, the sum of $38,806,823 and the Town ofScarborough raises as the local share for the Education Operating Budget, the sum of$ 34,724,484.Vote: 7 Yeas.Order No. 13-48. Act to set the date, time and location of the School Budget ValidationReferendum for Tuesday, June 11, 2013. Motion by Councilor Roy, seconded by3

Councilor St. Clair, to move approval to set the date, time and location of the School BudgetValidation Referendum for Tuesday, June 11, 2013, as follows:WARRANTSCHOOL BUDGET VALIDATION REFERENDUM(20-A M.R.S.A. § 1486 and 2307)TOWN OF SCARBOROUGHTuesday, June 11, 2013Municipality: ScarboroughVoting Place Name: Municipal BuildingPolls Open at 7:00 A.M.Absentee Ballot Processing (check all that apply):Voting District: Town WideVoting Location: 259 US Route OnePolls Close at 8:00 P.M.Processed by: Clerk (Centrally) X Clerk (At Polls)Date/Time of Processing:XDuring Election Day (6/11) Processing Time(s): After 8:00 a.m.Only after 8:00 p.m. on Election Day (6/11)----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------WARRANTSCHOOL BUDGET VALIDATION REFERENDUM(20-A M.R.S.A. § 1486 and 2307)TOWN OF SCARBOROUGHTuesday, June 11, 2013Cumberland County, ss.State of MaineTO: Robert A. Moulton, A Resident of Scarborough:You are hereby required in the name of the State of Maine to notify the voters of the Town ofScarborough of the Special Scholl Budget Validation Referendum Election, as described in thiswarrant.To the Voters of the Town of Scarborough:You are hereby notified that a School Budget Validation Referendum will held at the ScarboroughMunicipal Building in Council Chambers, located at 259 US Route One, in the Town of Scarboroughon Tuesday, June 11, 2013, for the purpose of determining the following questions:School Budget Validation Referendum Question No. 1:YESNODo you favor approving the Scarborough School budget for the upcoming schoolyear that was adopted at the latest Town of Scarborough budget meeting?The following is a non-binding expression of opinion for the consideration of the Town Counciland School Board.I find the school budget adopted at the June 5, 2013, Town Council meeting to be:4

TOO HIGHACCEPTABLETOO LOWThe Registrar of Voters will hold office hours while the polls are open to correct any error in or changea name or address on the voting list; to accept the registration of any person eligible to vote, and toaccept new enrollments.A person who is not registered as a voter may not vote in any Scarborough election.Given under our hand this 29th day of May, 2013, at Scarborough, Maine.Vote: 7 Yeas.A majority of the municipal officers of the Town of Scarborough.Item 5. Adjournment. Motion by Councilor St. Clair, seconded by Councilor Blaise, to moveapproval to adjourn the special meeting of the Scarborough Town Council.Vote: 7 Yeas.Meeting adjourned at 8:38 p.m.Respectfully submitted,Yolande P. JusticeTown Clerk5