KENNEBUNKPORT – Two former selectmen are vying to fill a vacancy on the five-member Kennebunkport Board of Selectmen.

Charles W,. Sullivan and Michael D. Weston are looking to fill the remainder of the selectmen’s term of longtime selectman Stuart Barwise, who resigned in August to take a job in Virginia. The term expires in June, 2021.

Sullivan, 70, served as Kennebunkport selectman about 19 years, from around 1973 to 1992, he said in a recent interview. Sullivan said he served on the board when the sewage treatment plant was built, recreation facilities were expanded and zoning was first introduced.

“The selectmen’s board was charged with making sure people were taken care of and I think we did a good job,” said Sullivan.

He said he is not a fan of special town meetings, including the one that saw voters approve a $10 million land purchase in September 2018.

Sullivan said he thinks special town meetings ought to be reserved for true emergencies.

A Goose Rocks Beach resident, Sullivan said he approved of the recent Maine Supreme Judicial Court decision that ruled the beach belongs to the town of Kennebunkport, a decision that he said means the beach is open to everyone.

Sullivan moved to Kennebunkport in the early 1970s, after serving in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam, but his history in the community goes back to 1949, the year he was born and spent his first Fourth of July in this seaside town.

He said the community atmosphere has changed over the years.

“I think this town, though I love Kennebunkport very much, has changed, and we need to be a bit more concerned about the changes taking place,” said Sullivan. He recalled events like Halloween parties arranged by the local fire companies, and everybody in the neighborhood would attend and bring their children.

Sullivan said eh believes the decision to suspend recycling in Kennebunkport was made “haphazardly.”

“I understand the Board of Selectmen has to make decisions but it is always good to get input,” said Sullivan.

Sullivan has been engaged in the hotel indusrtry since the 1970s.

Weston, 74, is a retired CEO of a manufacturing company and served two terms on the Kennebunkport selectmen’s board, finishing his last term about seven years ago, he estimated.

Weston said he has a keen interest in the success of the so-called village parcel, the $10 million, 85-acre North Street property the town purchased last year.

Weston said there have been a number of visioning sessions and meetings with the public on what they’d like to see at the village parcel.

He said three themes emerged and remained constant throughout the sessions.

“The main thing was affordable and senior housing, a new town hall, possibly, and the third thing which I support, is hiking paths and recreation,” he said. Weston, a member of the Village Parcel Committee, said the final decision on what will transpire on the property is to be determined..

“This not a two- or three-year project but a long term project,” he said. “We’re in the process of figuring out which direction to go in. We have to explore all our options.”

The Cape Porpoise resident said Kennebunkport has to come up with got to come up with a viable program for recycling — the town halted its program earlier this year due to increased costs.

He said the town has to plan for future issues that come with climate change and pointed out that areas of the downtown already experience flooding.

“Whether you believe global warming is a natural cycle or caused by man, there is a problem and I agree with others who believe that at some point in town downtown Kennebunkport will be flooded on a permanent basis unless something happens,” Weston concluded. “We’ve got to have some sort of plan for that when it happens.”

Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells @mainelymediallc.com.