SCARBOROUGH — This fall, Scarborough voters will be asked to approve bonding for a new fire engine as well as a $1.9 million bond for a new high school track and turf field.
The Municipal and State General and Referendum Election is taking place on Nov. 2 at 11 Municipal Drive in Scarborough from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. People can also vote before hand by picking up an absentee ballot at the Town Clerk’s Office.
Voters will be asked if they would approve a bond of up to $725,000 to replace a 1996 fire engine. A second question asks if they will approve a bond of up to $1.9 million to replace the high school’s track and turf field, a question that voters turned down in a previous referendum election.
The current track and turf field was installed in 2006, said Todd Souza, director of Scarborough Community Services, in an informational video for the public.
“The projected lifespan of any turf surface is about 10 years,” he said. “Good maintenance has helped it last longer, but the safety of those who use the turf surface is becoming a cause for concern.”
A big challenge for the turf is the worn-down fibers, he said.
Constant repairs and safety concerns are an issue for the track as well, Souza said.
In addition, there will be three state referendum questions.
Question 1 is a citizen initiative about the controversial Central Maine Power corridor. It asks voters whether they “want to ban the construction of high-impact electric transmission lines in the Upper Kennebec Region and to require the Legislature to approve all other such projects anywhere in Maine, both retroactively to 2020, and to require the Legislature, retroactively to 2014, to approve by a two-thirds vote such projects using public land?”
Question 2 asks residents to approve a $100 million transportation bond. The state funds would be used leverage about $253 million in federal and other funds to build or improve Maine roads, bridges, railroads, airports, transit facilities and ports and make other transportation investments.
The third state question asks voters if they favor amending the state Constitution “to declare that all individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being? ”
More information about voting and how to vote can be found at scarboroughmaine.org/stay-connected/town-news/2021-voter-guide. To reach the Town Clerk’s Office about absentee voting, call 730-4020.
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