The 59-article town meeting warrant was approved in its entirety by Boothbay Harbor voters Monday night but, as always, there were stops and starts when residents offered comments or asked questions about certain articles. With various town accounts being consolidated in the revamped warrant, there were plenty of questions and comments for Town Manager Carlo Pilgrim, department heads, the board of selectmen and budget committee. The meeting was delayed by about 40 minutes due to the election recount (see accompanying story) and the meeting was adjourned promptly at 11 p.m. About 150 people attended the meeting.

Raising perhaps the most hairs was article 49, the newly labeled Health and Sanitation Account, which includes the Boothbay Region Ambulance Service, Boothbay Region Refuse Disposal District, District Nurse and Humane Society budgets. With the BRAS asking for a "crucial" increase in funds requested -- due to a 14-month budget which includes slight pay increases for staff, a growing increase between operating costs and revenues from insurance billing, and the costs incurred with the operation of its new headquarters -- many felt that the BRAS, along with other organizations, should have its own article on the warrant.

"It looks like the selectmen are trying to pull a fast one here," said David Benner, a BRAS member. He explained that during the budget process, "it was agreed that we were going to get $39,007, that the selectmen were going to support that, but the warrant article only gives us $29, 800."

"We shouldn't be lumped with the dump," said BRAS attendant Helen Farnham.

"This is looking more and more like the school warrant," said former selectman Mary Lee Brown.

"We want more, not less, information on these warrant articles," said Norm Pierce.

After the Health and Sanitation account was amended to include $39,007 for the BRAS, and approved by the voters, things calmed down a bit until the final article of the meeting (explained below).

Prior to article 49, the article garnering the most discussion was the Police Department Account (article 35). The budget committee had recommended approximately $36,000 less than the selectmen for the department -- the cost of one additional full-time officer for the department.

Budget committee member Palmer Payne questioned spending over $440,000 (in total) on law enforcement, citing the town's share for the Lincoln County's Sheriff's Office.

"I think the time has come for the taxpayer to consider this," said Payne.

Police Chief Steve Clark vehemently disagreed with Payne, saying he believed the current force is needed in the downtown region, especially during the summer months.

"We need to maintain the force that we have," said Clark. "They (Lincoln County Sheriffs) can't be here and have the presence a municipal force has."

Lincoln County Sheriff Lt. Dan Sceviour, a Boothbay Harbor resident, agreed with Clark, saying he was comfortable knowing his family was protected while he was at work.

"It's foolish for us to even talk about getting rid of another officer," said Sceviour.

The $326,360 police department budget, recommended by selectmen, was approved by a resounding applause.

Article 20, regarding zoning changes, was approved following much discussion. Among other things, the approval now allows Donn Page to turn his home into a bed and breakfast establishment.

The final article, number 59, was an attachment to the warrant. Dan Jameson announced that the library had rescinded its offer to sell the former Tavenner building lot to the town for parking, that a private buyer had made an offer to purchase it. Following the announcement, voters considered and finally approved the offer by D. Wayne Moore to sell his lot on Oak Street, west of the post office, to the town for $250,000. Strong comments on both sides of the issue were expressed but in the end, Doug Gimbel's point that the town might regret its decision, after letting the Signal Point and Bath Savings Bank lots be sold to others in the recent past, swayed the crowd to purchase the property.