Southport reelected Matthew Cole moderator of the March 4 annual town meeting.  The election’s winners were all were incumbents: Smith Climo for selectman with 45 votes; Katherine Tibbetts, school committee, 48 votes; Gerry Gamage, Boothbay Region Water District Board of Trustees, 46 votes; and Donna Climo, town clerk, 47 votes. All offices are for three-year terms.

In his trademark style of narrative, Selectman and Fire Warden Gerry “Mr. Southport” Gamage explained the cost of every budget item out of $1,000 of taxes. Gamage thanked the community for allowing his pet project of restoring the balcony at the front of the town hall. Gamage also delivered on the town’s promise last year that the mill rate would go down: 0.0039 this year compared to last year’s 0.0042.

All articles passed unanimously save for three articles with an audible “opposed” or “nay”: Article 20 appropriated $270,000 from Southport Central School’s general fund balance to replace the building’s heating system, Article 24 established a fund with $25,000 to bring year round water to the town hall, and Article 33 appropriated $18,000 for streetlights.

Articles 46 and 49, which fund Spectrum Generations and Boothbay Region Community Resource Council respectively, were funded more than the requested amounts by the suggestion of the budget committee. Spectrum asked for $400 and received $1,100 and BRCRC requested $2,500 and received $5,000.

Said Climo, “... These people do such an incredible job in this community that the budget committee recommended we give them that much because they're doing that much good. I certainly encourage you to support that and I don't do that often from up here.”

Elections by nomination at the meeting yielded library trustees Linda Brewer and Lynn Schafer; cemetary trustees Ron Orchard and Betty Goulette; and Budget Committee members Celeste Brown and Cindy Smith. Voters approved an associate seat  to the Budget Committee and elected Adam Shepard to it.

In keeping the town meeting on a positive vote trajectory, Gamage proposed Article 54 – a vote to exceed the property tax cap – be dismissed. The approval of the motion was met with laughter and a unanimous vote.