STANDISH – A pair of sidewalk construction bonds and another pair of term limits charter amendments are set to appear before Standish voters Nov. 4.

If approved, the four referendum questions would authorize about $180,000 in spending on sidewalk construction projects in Standish Corner and Steep Falls, and impose strict term limits on the majority of the town’s elected officials.

The referenda are inciting an array of reactions in the community.

Both proposed sidewalk bonds were included in the bundled question that failed in a 540-711 vote at the June referendum.

Question 1 would approve $104,600 in bond principal toward matching funds for a sidewalk construction project in the Village Center. The proposed sidewalk, which would extend from the Colonial Marketplace intersection to the George E. Jack School and the Standish House of Pizza, emerged from the 2006 Comprehensive Plan, which recommended a pedestrian-friendly village.

The project, which would use $418,400 in Maine Department of Transportation funds, was also defeated by a 115-vote margin in a June 2012 referendum and a 26-vote margin in a June 2013 referendum. Including bond interest, the question would approve an estimated $116,480 in spending.

Question 2 would approve $76,800 in bond principal toward a sidewalk project in Steep Falls. The proposed sidewalk would be located on the northwest side of Route 11, and would stretch from the Saco River Bridge toward the intersection with Route 113. The project would also include curbing, drainage, and handicapped access ramps. The bond would supplement $206,000 in Community Block Development Grants. Including interest, the question would approve an estimated $86,016 in spending.

Aimee Senatore, the executive director of the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce, supports the measure. According to Senatore, sidewalks would bring more foot traffic to Standish Corner, revitalize the area, and enable activities such as parades and festivals.

Town Manager Gordon Billington sees Senatore’s support as evidence that the business community is behind the spending.

“I’m very gratified to see the strong support from the business community again for sidewalks,” Billington said. “They see what that will do for Standish Corner, which is our primary area for where we want economic growth to occur. That’s where we anticipate economic growth will occur. Businesses see that sidewalks would connect businesses to one another and the community members to each other.”

But some think that sidewalk advocates have understated the price of sidewalk maintenance. According to Bill Orr, town officials are not including the price of winter maintenance in their cost estimates.

“What they’re doing is they’re pulling a fast one,” Orr said. “They said they were just going to have those sidewalks be seasonal. And then five minutes later when they asked that question they said they were going to be putting the plowing in the budget.”

Term Limits

Question 3, which was proposed through a citizen’s petition, would limit town councilors to a maximum of two consecutive three-year terms. After serving either four successive years or two consecutive terms, councilors would have to wait three years in order to run again. The amendment does not propose a lifetime limit on council terms.

Question 4, put forward by longtime councilor Phil Pomerleau, would propose similar limits for School Administrative District 6 board members and budget committee members, as well. Pomerleau’s proposal would not apply to members of the Planning Board, who are also elected in Standish.

Todd Delaney, chairman of the SAD 6 school board, said he does not support Question 4.

“I do not support adding term limits to school board members,” Delaney said. “Residents of Standish would not retain seniority that other towns enjoy. The institutional memory lost would not benefit our students and hurt our district. We have a great school board that works hard to support our children. Having unbalanced representation from Standish could potentially negatively impact the students and residents of Standish. To have such limitations on school board members creates a loss for our district and threatens progress of our district is making.”

Billington said he did not support term limits at all.

“I think the voters have got a powerful choice to make,” Billington said. “Imposing term limits at the local level is very uncommon in the state.”

According to Billington, if the term limits charter amendments pass, councilors Pomerleau and Margaret Spencer would not be able to run again in next year’s election, and would be forced out of office for a minimum of three years. The following year,

Michael Blanck, John Sargent, and Lynn Olson would be dispatched from the council, as well.

According to Billington, of the handful of towns that have term limits in the state, most allow elected officials three consecutive terms, and only require that one year be taken off at the end of the three terms.

“I have to question who came up with the model of two terms,” Billington added. “That fires five of the councilors here that we have at the present time. To me that would be very disruptive of town government.”

Dan Kasprzyk, who helped organize the citizen-initiated petition that led to Question 3, said the proposal was modeled off Legislative term limits, which calls for state representatives to take an entire term off after serving four consecutive terms.

“We chose two terms on, one term off, because that is similar to what happens in the statehouse in the state of Maine,” Kasprzyk said. “That’s it in a nutshell.”

The proposed charter amendment in Question 3 reads:

“No council member shall seek re-election to the Town Council for more than one additional consecutive term. No person who has served either four or more successive years, or has been elected to two successive terms on the council, shall be eligible for either appointment or election to the council within 36 months of his/her last serving as a member. The provisions of this amendment shall apply to all appointments or elections, whether for district or at large seats.”