Dear Editor:

The public forum component of the Boothbay Harbor Selectmen’s meeting has been a wild ride this year and the July 23 one did not disappoint. Steve Lorrain from the School District Board of Trustees spoke for the second time in a month referencing a recent audit/report of the two school buildings and the need to discuss deferred maintenance items totaling upwards to $10 million. He made a passionate plea for the board to get involved, come to the meetings and start talking about this important topic. The resulting action was for Lorrain to send Tom Woodin the upcoming meeting dates and the selectmen would start attending. Excellent. While I have not yet read the report, there are 500 children who attend these schools and a ventilation system audit citing air quality issues is a call to action for every resident.

Next up was Karen Grindall who, after a round of Q&A regarding the footbridge proposal and further narrative on her difficulties easily launching her kayak in the harbor, asked the board what had been done in terms coming up with a plan to “pool a bank of money” to purchase land for public access. She referenced the meeting a month ago where there was vocal support for acquiring green space. Grindall stated that she would “Hate to see it (the topic) put on the back shelf.”

Let’s see, we are a community with finite resources. We have a school in dire need of infrastructure repairs/improvements that affects our children’s air quality that could run upwards of $10 million ... repairs that were characterized as years of “deferred maintenance,” yet, one month later, Grindall wants a progress update on the acquisition of additional public green space to enable, among other things, easier kayak launching?

Here’s an idea. Pass the east side rezoning proposal to facilitate a $30 million-plus investment which, when added to our tax base, will yield approximately $100k-plus a year in new tax revenue. This will go a long way towards paying off a school improvement bond. Only then can we even contemplate new community green space.

Patty Minerich

Boothay Harbor