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 Local news and information from Deer Isle, Isle au Haut and Stonington, Maine. |
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News Feature
by Alice Wilkinson Most of the work the Stonington selectmen have been doing for the past few weeks is on the budget, and the January 16 meeting was no exception. Before they got down to working with numbers, representatives of the Stonington Public Library explained why they were increasing the amount of their request, from the $3,000 they have been receiving for at least 13 years, to $4,000. Vickie Zelnick, the librarian, and board member Rosalie Robbins explained that even as costs have been going up, the library has increased its activity, including opening for an extra hour on Friday, closing at 5 p.m. instead of 4 p.m. The work of volunteers is part of what keeps the library afloat—last year they added 957 hours of their own work to Zelnick’s. On her own time, Zelnick has been visiting preschools, taking books because early learning, she said, is so important. For that reason, the library has been working on its early childhood collection, particularly for the birth to age 3 group. Although the library does fundraising, including house tours, a book sale and an annual appeal, the income, according to Robbins, is down this year. Selectman Evelyn Duncan said, “Normally a library is a responsibility of the town…it would cost us a heck of a lot more to do it ourselves. I think it’s very important to the town.” The selectmen were supportive of the request and Chairman Chris Betts suggested that it would pass at town meeting, although the selectmen did discuss the fact that sometimes a huge amount is passed without discussion, and then a small request can set things off. The library’s request comes under the budget section that deals with third party requests, and includes social agencies, the Chamber of Commerce’s July 4th celebration and the Island Community Center. As they got to work on the budget, Betts said that this year they are “taking care of infrastructure.” One of the items tentatively budgeted for is extending the sidewalk and fixing the curbs on Main Street from in front of Boyce’s up to Sylvia Tate’s driveway. For that 180 feet they have put $4,000 in the warrant. The rest will come from unexpended money from the safety reserve. The amount budgeted for tarring is up from $70,000 to $120,000, and even with that increase, the town is falling behind on tarring. Everything in the budget is up for a vote at the March 5 town meeting, and the budget is still a work in progress, so amounts that seem fixed this week could be different next. The selectmen are hopeful that the increase in the budget will be small. In other business, the board approved the appointment of Sally Richardson to the appeals board. In a brief public meeting before the selectmen’s meeting, attended only by Del Gross, the selectmen approved the liquor licenses of The Harbor Café, Seasons and Lily’s Café. |
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