No one spoke Sept. 20 for or against tapping surplus for the $23,982 overdraft in Parks and Recreation’s last budget. The four-minute special town meeting at Wiscasset Community Center, and aired on Zoom and YouTube, passed the tap in a show of raised pink voting squares.

The overdraft was due mainly to a large increase in use of WCC and its programs, and due to “explosive” costs for supplies, fuels and electricity, Town Manager Dennis Simmons has said. The department’s revenues surpassed projections by $128,500, but due to the budget overdraft, a special town meeting was needed, he has said. 

Selectmen’s Vice Chair Dusty Jones raised his voting square when moderator Susan Blagden asked for any opposed. In a phone interview Sept. 23, Jones explained he would like policies on parks and recreation’s spending and revenue. He said the vote was his way of saying he knew the article was going to pass, but he would like to sit down and have a conversation about the department’s budgeting. Jones added, Director Duane Goud asked him later about the no vote and they plan to talk further.

“I was pleased by his quick response,” Jones said.

Also in a phone interview Sept. 23, Goud said he told Jones he was “more than willing to sit down and figure it out.” Goud told Wiscasset Newspaper he sees the nearly $130,000 in extra revenue as a huge plus, that shows people like what the department is offering and want to take part. Summer camp turnout doubled last year and nearly doubled again this year, he said.

Two budget years ago, the department underspent its budget by about $100,000, Goud said. Asked if parks and rec is a hard budget to forecast, he said, “It is when you’re trying to grow.”

At the selectmen’s meeting that followed the special town meeting, the candy store coming to the former Big Al’s Super Values on Route 1 got the board’s OK for a business license. So did another business, while a third got a nod on a different request.

The business license nods were for Stephen Jackson’s Sweetz & More, 298 Bath Road; and Living the Dream Ice Cream, 49 Water St.

Chandler Sowden’s In A Silent Way, 51 Water St., Unit B, got approved for its liquor license renewal. 

Reached by phone Sept. 22, Jackson said he was glad the business license passed and glad for the continued excitement surrounding his plan to open the store, his first Sweetz & More in Maine. He still did not have an opening date to announce. The week of Sept. 26, a contractor is set to remove the glue left from the old carpeting and replace grout; then it can be determined whether to just seal over the concrete or use something else on the floor, Jackson said.

Fixtures are on the way, Jackson said. He praised Town Clerk Linda Perry’s helpfulness when he was completing the license application.