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Residents press council on email transparency; council schedules joint hearing on growth-area map amid new state law
Summary
Residents asked council to post internal emails and flagged a FOIA cost estimate; a resident also urged postponing growth-area work in light of new state legislation (LD 2173). Council voted to post materials and scheduled a joint public hearing on June 16 to solicit public input and invited educational presentations.
Residents at the South Berwick council meeting raised concerns about email-based decision-making and recent changes in state housing law, prompting the council to post materials ahead of a planned workshop and schedule a joint public hearing with the planning board.
Ammer Steinhower told the council he had filed a Freedom of Access Act request after seeing references to email exchanges that were not included in meeting packets. He said IT estimated "about 50,000 emails," and objected to residents being charged to obtain records he believes should have been public. In response the council later voted to post a collection of previously circulated emails in advance of the workshop so the public could review materials ahead of deliberations.
Another resident urged the council to pause or reconsider item 26-50, the proposed growth-area map, citing LD 2173 — new state legislation that the speaker said extends the deadline for municipal compliance to July 1, 2027 and revises density and public-water definitions. Councilors discussed the law and agreed it does not eliminate the need to act; instead they scheduled a joint public hearing with the planning board for June 16 at 6:00 p.m. at the community center and said they would pursue public education—inviting regional planning staff and affected utilities to present background information before or during the hearing.
Councilors emphasized they wanted the public to be informed before the hearing. One member noted the town has a $10,000 grant to support public education and consultant work on the comprehensive-plan map and suggested that presentations from SMPDC or water/sewer districts would help residents evaluate possible density and infrastructure impacts.
What’s next: The council will publish the selected email records and related materials ahead of the workshop and hold the joint hearing on June 16. Residents with technical questions about how LD 2173 affects specific parcels or utilities were encouraged to attend and to submit questions in advance.
