GORHAM – Critics of a $3 million referendum that would pay for a synthetic turf stadium in Gorham lambasted the project in a public hearing at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting.

Several opponents of the measure pointed to the tough economic climate and already rising taxes, and objected to borrowing for the project.

“I urge Gorham residents to vote no on the $3 million athletic field. Vote no, stop this insanity,” said Jim Means of Beatrice Drive, receiving applause in a crowd gathered for hearings for the referendum and municipal budgets.

Gorham voters will decide that issue, as well as the $31.2 million school budget, at the polls on Tuesday, June 14.

The council took no action on the stadium issue, but did approve both the school and municipal budgets, totaling $43,751,328 and raising property taxes an estimated 58 cents per $1,000 of valuation. There was virtually no input from the public on the budgets.

If approved by voters – which the Town Council recommends – the $3 million would build a stadium with an artificial turf field, lights, bleachers and a building with locker rooms and concessions. It would be built off Main Street on the so-called Chick Property behind the town’s Public Safety Building and adjacent to the Narragansett Elementary School.

The stadium would be the home field for Gorham High School varsity teams including football, soccer, field hockey and lacrosse. Teams would have to be bused to the stadium from the high school.

The proposal would also upgrade traffic circulation for safety improvements at the Narragansett school and increase parking at the site. A new, 1,800-foot road, Chick Drive, linking Main Street (Route 25) with Gray Road (Route 202) was built through the site last year. If the referendum project is approved, sidewalks would be built along Chick Drive.

Voters are being asked to borrow $3 million for the stadium and safety project to be repaid over 20 years. With an estimated interest rate of up to 4.5 percent, interest would run up the cost by $1,351,875, for a total cost exceeding $4.3 million.

Town Manager David Cole said in Tuesday’s meeting the impact on the tax rate would be 5 cents per $1,000 of valuation for the first year and 16 cents the second year. Then, the costs would diminish, Cole said.

“I think we all know we are in a critical economic depression,” Bruce Elder, a Windham resident who owns Gorham property on Elizabeth Street near the proposal, said. “I urge voters not approve this item.”

Jim Hager, a School Committee member, was the lone proponent of the stadium project to speak from the public podium Tuesday. He said the existing high school field is overused, and he mentioned a proposed $8 million field a few years ago that never got off the ground.

“I do want to defend this,” Hager said. “I’m in favor of this.”

Stadium proponents have said in the past the project would position Gorham to attract state tournaments like the football championship.

But, Charlie Pearson of Mighty Street, who also urged voters to reject the proposal, questioned claims that the stadium would bring revenue into town. Pearson said he hadn’t seen a figure indicating how much the project would generate.

“I call this field a luxury,” Pearson said.

Artificial turf is not new in Gorham. YourSpace, a privately owned, nonprofit recreational facility on Narragansett Street, has a playing surface under a dome.

And the town’s Planning Board has approved an artificial turf field on the Gorham campus at the University of Southern Maine. The first two phases of the project, which include the field and lights, are expected to cost $1.3 million. The university launched a fund drive to pay for the project.

Bill Goff of Meadowbrook Road advocated fundraising for the town’s proposal, and he cited fundraising for one in Freeport.

“Why put the burden on the taxpayers?” Goff said. “It would be nice to have, but we just can’t afford it.”

Town Councilor Noah Miner, who opposes the project, offered a breakdown on costs.

Miner said a parking lot expansion of 138 spaces and school bus entrance improvements at Narragansett school would cost $605,000; improved access and adding 48 parking spaces at the Public Safety Building, $174,000; a new parking lot with 144 spaces at Narragansett school, $467,000; the stadium complex with the multi-purpose field, lights, bleachers and the building, $1,751,000.

“I feel strongly when we go to referendum that voters understand how the money would be spent,” Miner said Wednesday.

“I’m not convinced it has to be bundled together,” Pearson, a trial lawyer and law professor, said about the stadium and the safety improvements.

Goff said if there’s a safety issue, it should have been addressed before building the road. But Town Councilor Mike Phinney said the road was needed to separate cars from the school buses.

And traffic snarls that have long nagged Gorham also became an issue. Goff wanted a traffic study before the referendum went to voters. Matt Robinson, chairman of the Town Council, said there would be no need to spend money for a traffic study if voters reject the project.

Because of existing traffic, Goff said, residents have trouble now pulling out onto that stretch of Main Street where there are housing developments, another proposed development, and three churches besides the Public Safety Building and school.

“During commuting hours, it’s a bear,” Goff said.

Phinney said the proposed project is now a concept plan and that it would have to be approved by the Planning Board if the referendum passes.

“It is my opinion that the Town Council is doing a disservice to the residents of Gorham by recommending this borrowing. We cannot keep spending money that we do not have simply because it would provide something that some people think that it would be nice to have. That kind of thinking has gotten the state and the country in serious financial difficulty. We should not be following their example of excessive spending habits here in Gorham,” Means said at the hearing.

The Town Council unanimously, 7-0, passed the $31.2 million school budget that still needs final approval of voters on Tuesday.

“I’m pleased, I hope the voters support it,” Dennis Libby, School Committee chairman, said after the council vote.

The school budget includes $1.7 million in first-year payments on the $21 million Great Falls Elementary School, with the state paying 89 percent of the costs. It is expected to open in September.

Hollis Cobb, school department finance officer, said without the school debt payments, the school budget would have been $187,000 less than the current budget.

The school budget is up from $30.4 million for this year, increasing the tax rate 31 cents.

“I apologize to citizens for going up on taxes,” Town Council Vice Chairwoman Brenda Caldwell said. “I don’t see where it can be cut.”

The council 6-1 (Matt Mattingly against) also approved an $11.8 million municipal budget, representing a 2.2 percent increase. Increasing Cole’s proposed budget, the council added $3,000 to finance summer concerts and another $4,000 to support next year’s Gorham Founders Festival.

“I think David (Town Manager Cole) has done a good job with this budget,” Phinney said

Coupled with $793,804 Cumberland County property tax, the total municipal budget is $12,555,658, up 2.3 percent.

The school budget adds 31 cents to the tax rate; the town budget represents a 25-cent increase; and the county tax, 2 cents. The tax rate per $1,000 of valuation would be an estimated $16.48, up from the current $15.90.