BATH

Voters in the four communities that make up RSU 1 — Arrowsic, Bath, Phippsburg and Woolwich — voted overwhelmingly in favor of issuing bonds to the tune of $74,628,411 for the construction of a new high school to replace the current Morse High School building.

The state is committed to picking up 89.5 percent of the costs of the building as proposed. Taxpayers will have to cover the remaining 10.5 percent, or $7.9 million, although the district has committed to raising $700,000 during the next three years to alleviate that burden.

According to the district’s time line, the new school, which will house the high school and the Bath Regional Career and Technical Center in an integrated environment, is slated to open in 2020.

All four candidates for the respective four municipal-residence positions on the RSU 1 board of education were elected after running unopposed. Anita Brown will represent Arrowsic, Megan Fuller will represent Bath, William Perkins will represent Phippsburg and Jennifer Ritch-Smith will represent Woolwich.

Bath council changes

Bath will see two new faces on the city council after Tuesday’s election.

While incumbent Councilor Susan Bauer was able to cruise to re-election in Ward 6 with 80 percent of the vote, her fellow incumbents Councilor-at-large James Omo and Councilor Greg Page in Ward 1 did not fare so well.

With 55 percent of the vote, newcomer Phyllis Bailey was able to claim victory in Ward 1. Julie Ambrosino will also be joining the city council as councilor-at-large with 57 percent of the vote.

Bath voters approved all local ballot questions on Tuesday.

The bond ordinance of $2.8 million to fund sidewalk and street projects passed overwhelmingly, 1,832 for and 395 against.

Charter change

Bath voters also approved two amendments to the city charter. The first amendment had to do with nomination papers for future elections. It moves up the deadlines for filing nomination papers and passed with 85 percent of the vote.

The second amendment to the city charter would allow the city council to waive the requirement that the city manager reside in Bath with a majority vote. The referendum passed 1,217-965, or by 56 percent.

In 2014, voters rejected an attempt to do away with the residency requirement all together. The question presented to voters Tuesday was slightly different, maintaining the requirement while giving the council leeway to allow the city manager to live outside of city limits if deemed appropriate by the city council.

City Council Chairwoman Mari Eosco previously told The Times Record that the change is important to widen the pool of candidates for the city manager position. Longtime city manager Bill Giroux resigned from the position over the summer, with former public works director Peter Owen filling in as interim city manager since then.

nstrout@timesrecord.com

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