June 15, 2011
Maine

Hope voters approve wind moratorium, liquor sales

By Kim Lincoln, Herald Gazette, knox.villagesoup.com 15 June 2011

Hope – Hope voters approved all five local questions before them at the polls June 14, including a wind moriatorium and two questions to allow the sale of liquor.

In a vote of 191-131, voters approved allowing a 180-day wind power moriatorium to allow the town time to create an ordinance regulating the development of wind power in town.

Voters also approved to allow the town to authorize the state to permit the operation of state liquor stores and agency liquor stores on every day of the week. Two questions pertained to this issue, one to allow the sales on Sundays and another for the other days of the week. The Sunday question was approved 209-118, the other 259-68.

Wendy Pelletier and Jason Hall will fill two three-year seats on the board of selectmen being vacated by Barbara Bentley and Mike Ames. Pelletier generated 204 votes, Hall, 193 and Lewis Merrifield gained 150 votes.

Dawn Smith-Cote was elected to the Hope School Committee with a vote of 163 in a race against Christine Alberi, who received 110.

Townspeople also voted to amend the town’s addressing ordinance with a vote of 198-95 and also voted 191-115 to approve a Property Assessed Clean Energy program, or PACE. PACE enables homeowners in towns that pass the PACE ordinance to access low-interest loans of up to $15,000 for energy-efficiency retrofits, such as upgrades to heating systems, home weatherization and other improvements that will save energy and money.

In a four-way race for three seats on the budget committee, Jean Ettlinger, Janice Campbell and Terry Miller were elected, receiving 202, 190 and 183 votes respectively. Mark Dierckes received 145 votes.

John Monroe was elected road commissioner with 236 votes. Current road commissioner Alex Ludwig, who had taken out, but did not return nomination papers, received 58 write-in votes.

The Hope Elementary School budget passed with a vote of 234-73 and the Five Town Community School District budget, which oversees operations at Camden Hills Regional High School was approved 254-62.

A total of 331 votes were cast out of 1,159 voters in town. That is about 2.5 percent of registered voters.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/06/15/hope-voters-approve-wind-moriatorium-liquor-sales/