By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

CASCO — It took less than one hour for Casco residents to approve the $4.7 million budget during an outdoor town meeting.

One reason it might have gone so smoothly is that the attendance was low. Also, nothing controversial was being presented as a warrant article. Another thing that might have factored into speeding up the process — voters used handheld devices that electronically recorded the yeas and nays.

Many of the selectmen said they appreciated the voting method. Meanwhile, new Town Manager Tony Ward commented.

“Instead of doing it the old-fashioned way of counting votes. We had collectors that recorded the results right on the spot. It ended up being very useful,” Ward said. 

It wouldn’t have been possible without Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG), he said.  

Casco Annual Town Meeting was held June 9 — outdoors, under a tent pitched at Casco Days Park. Sixty-nine (69) residents registered to vote, and the group wrapped up the 2021 town meeting in 55 minutes.

The 2021-22 budget was approved by the vast majority of the voters. The budget was $460,000 more than last year, and that increase was carried by a real spike in revenue.

“As far as the meeting, having it outside under the tent, it might be one of the smaller meetings we have had for a town meeting,” Casco Chairman Tom Peaslee said. 
He estimated that there were about 50 voters but recommended asking the town clerk for an exact number.

“It was a very small turnout, considering that we have 3000 registered voters,” he said.

Select-women Holly Hancock agreed the turnout was down.

“We didn’t have the number of people who usually attend. They died. Usually, people would ask questions, and we had folks there that didn’t ask questions,” Hancock said.

“The voters supported every article. I think it went pretty well,” she said. 

Hancock was really impressed with the handheld voting devices. It’ll probably be the way things are done in the future. 

“I think they’re spectacular. I think that we are going to do that from now on,” she said.

Vice-Chair Mary Fernandes was happy with how town meeting panned out.  

“I thought it was great. We usually have more people, but I appreciate anyone who comes out to attend town meeting because we are there for our residents.” 

“The clickers as I call them. Don [Gerrish, the Interim Town Manager] called them ‘voting devices.’ That was great. It worked well — everyone was quite pleased with the clickers,” she said. 

Another reason to be pleased or smile: The revenue stream was much better than anticipated. 

“The surprise was that revenueswere up,” Peaslee said. “When COVID-19 came, we asked: Do we need to adjust anything for revenue? A lot of people in the country were worried. Where is this going to go? Now, we know where it went: Revenues were up significantly. So, we do not need to worry about taxes.”

In 2019, former Town Manager Courtney O’Donnelldecided to do away with the Casco Finance Committee, and leave the budget process in the hands of the selectmen. This year, the board took a very activepart in the budget that was just approved, too.

“To be honest, it makes it so the board is more involved in the budget. It is always better for the selectmen to be well-informed of where things are in the budget,” Peaslee said.

“The select-board has been hands-on with the budget,” Fernandes said. “Because of Don Gerrish we found money that was in an undiscovered account or from the past. Don was a big help with that. Because of our increase in revenue-sharing, excise tax and other revenue sources, we were able to do things. We have a 3-to 5-year road plan — money set aside for that. We know what roads we are going to do in chronological order. We are planning to rebuild the retaining wall at Pleasant Lake.” 

“We are able to hire a part-time public works employee. Also, they have a vehicle. For the money we were spending for RFP’s, we have an employee. We pay half the amount and get more work done,” she said.  

“I’ve been on the board for 12 years, and I am looking at the budget with clarity. What is possible for us in the next few years, and what we need to plan on 5 to 10 years now?I’m quite pleased.”

Another goal can be obtained because it was budgeted. On the night of town meeting, resident Lynne Potter questioned the $40,000 increase in planning and zoning, and she learned that money is being earmarked for the comp plan. 

“There is $35,000 budgeted to start the comp plan program. The selectboard felt the comp plan is now 12 years, 13 years old, and it’s time to come up with new plan. We researched it. The total cost is $70,000 dollars. We contacted companies [to get price estimates]. We put $35,000 in there to do that,” Gerrish said.

Chairman Peaslee stressed the selectmen’s approach to the budget. 

“We are always cognizantand careful about the budget. But we didn’t have to worry because the money was there,” he said. 

“The state is changing the percentage of money coming back to the towns, fiddling with a lot of things. A lot of municipalities are going to make out well. Some places like Westbrook are getting a $1 million. As it turned out, Casco’s school budget went down. The county went up as it did this year, and we expected the school to go up and it didn’t. That is always a bonus.”

“The budget should be looking fairly good this year,” he said.