2 min read

Gorham voters on Nov. 4 will decide on a pair of local referendums and choose three town councilors and three School Committee members.

The polls will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Ward 1-1 votes at the middle school, 106 Weeks Road; Ward 1-2, Great Falls Elementary School, 73 Justice Way; and Ward 2, Shaw Gym in the Municipal Center, 75 South St.

Referendum Question 1 on the local ballot asks whether to borrow up to $2.39 million for box culvert replacements in four locations; Hurricane, Wilson and Wood roads; and Buck Street that has a section currently closed because of a washout.

Question 2 will seek voters approval whether to reallocate $2.5 million in unspent funds leftover from the $9.5 million the voters approved last year that were earmarked for improvements at the high school and Narragansett School.

If the reallocation is approved, the School Department would invest an estimated $625,000 for a high school track replacement; $1.1 million for ADA bathroom upgrades and other repairs at Narragansett; and $800,000 at Village School for a parking lot overlay coupled with a connector to the newly extended White Birch Lane behind the school grounds, plus sidewalk and fire lane repaving at Great Falls School.

A School Department fact sheet says:

  • The track and field area is becoming unsafe to use;
  • Sprinkler system in original portions of Narragansett School need repair;
  • Bathrooms in original portion of Narragsnsett are not ADA accessible;
  • Traffic flow at Village School is a safety issue;
  • Emergency vehicle access to Great Falls School is a safety issue.

Lower bids for an HVAC upgrade at Narragansett and alterations in modular classrooms for the high school accounted for the money voters approved last November, but didn’t require borrowing.

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A field of six candidates are in the running for three available seats. on the Town Council. They are Kelly Dearborn, Philip Gagnon Jr., Charles Hamblen, Timothy O’Leary III, Samuel Purinton, and Seven Siegel. Gagnon and Siegel are incumbents while the current council vice chair, Rob Lavoie, has stepped down.

The three seats are for three years.

Jeffrey Ballard and Lowansa Tompkins are running unopposed for the two open School Committee seats for three-year terms while incumbents Jaci Reynolds and Jennifer Whitehead are not seeking reelection; and Paulette Tateishi is seeking a one-year seat on the School Committee that is vacant and is also unopposed.

For more information about voting and the polls, call the Town Clerk’s Office at 222-1670.

Bob Lowell is Gorham resident and a community reporter for Westbrook, Gorham and Buxton.

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