Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor voters spoke decisively Monday when they said no to the CSD's $1.5 million bond referendum for community athletic fields and music room addition.

With high voter turnouts in both towns, nearly one-third of registered voters, the vote tallies were:

Boothbay - 590 No, 145 Yes

Boothbay Harbor - 459 No, 203 Yes

Total - 1,049 No; 348 Yes.

The bond was rejected by an overall margin of 3 to 1, in Boothbay by 4 to 1 and in Boothbay Harbor by 2 to 1.

"I'm disappointed but not surprised," said high school principal Jack Tourtillotte on Tuesday about the vote. "We'll do one field at a time and keep plugging away at it. Boothbay Harbor has to decide what to do with the tennis courts.

"The bottom line," he said, "is we have to do something. The tennis courts and the Boothbay Harbor field need money put in to them, and I can't believe we'd just leave the upper field as is...

"The sad thing is, over the years you'll end up paying more doing it piecemeal rather than all at once, and we'll lose the track, which was the biggest selling point and would have done a lot for the community... I don't think people were thinking far enough in the future.

"The bright spot is, we've raised a fair amount of money for the lights, and they will go in," said Tourtillotte.

"I think a great deal of work has been put into this project," said Superintendent Mark Keegan, "but we respect the judgment of the citizens. We still need a music room and athletic fields, and it will be our community's responsibility to figure out a way to meet the needs.

"I suspect the trustees will want to move ahead with some alternative plans in the next few months," Keegan said.

Elementary principal Eileen King, who takes the reins as superintendent of the school district on July 1, said she is disappointed particularly because the music room is still a very important need. She intends to bring the issue of the music room to the trustees again next year.

"My plan," she said, "is to sit down with the administrators and the boards and do a needs assessment and a five-year plan and see what we need to start working on. We'll do a facilities study, and I am sure the music room will be at the top of the list of needs.

"We'll work with the two towns and address these issues," King said.