Prospect passes new shoreland ordinance, gets new road commissioner

Prospect residents voted Aug. 21 to pass the town warrant without an annual meeting because of the coronavirus. The town’s tax bill increased by 9.1% this year to $1,143,840, up from $1,048,396.88 last year.

The town had 90 residents vote on the warrant, which is a larger turnout than normal, according to Town Clerk Jill Riley. She said it was probably because of the contested road commissioner race.

Charles “Chuck” Boynton won the road commissioner position over Harland Gamble by 51 votes to 38 votes. Boynton's father had been road commissioner, but decided not to seek reelection this year. Boynton previously said he intends to continue maintaining roads and work on replacing culverts that are creating bumps in town roads.

Residents voted in favor of a revised shoreland zoning ordinance, which updated the ordinance to comply with state changes, Planning Board Chairman Kathleen Jenkins said. The board proposed changing shoreland setback requirements but the idea failed when residents spoke out against it at a public hearing.

Calvin Cooper, who ran unopposed, was elected to be a town selectman and Heather Rickman, who also ran unopposed, was elected to represent the town on Regional School Unit 25’s School Board.