GORHAM – Gorham voters will fill openings on two boards next week and decide whether to spend up to $4.99 million to upgrade an aging public safety headquarters.

Another referendum question will ask voters to amend language in the town charter to define the term “moral turpitude,” a provision aimed at ousting violators from the Town Council. The definition would include drunk-driving convictions.

Four candidates are vying for three available School Committee seats. Incumbents Dennis Libby, who is board chairman, and Sara Nelson are facing challengers Forrest Genthner and Suzanne Phillips, a town councilor whose term is expiring. School Committee member Kathy Garrard is not running.

Two are seeking two Town Council seats. Michael Phinney and Ronald Shepard, are running unopposed. Phinney is chairman of the board and Shepard retires as the town’s police chief on Election Day.

The Town Council and School Committee seats are all three-year terms.

Voters will determine whether the town should borrow money to make over its public safety facility at 270 Main St. Issues at the antiquated building have haunted the town for years.

But, voters in 2013 rejected a $6.3 million plan to construct a public safety complex in Little Falls.

“The last referendum was not right for Gorham, and many people agreed with my position,” said a former town councilor, Phil Gagnon, who was undecided Tuesday how he’ll vote this time, citing a “lack of workshops, community input and even the lack of information on the town’s website.”

Under the proposal going to voters next week, police and firefighters would remain headquartered at 270 Main St. A new building would be constructed to house the police department and the existing structure, which opened in 1974 as a municipal center, would be renovated for the fire department.

With interest estimated at $1.7 million through 20 years, total cost would run about $6.7 million.

The proposal voters will decide on Tuesday is for a 10,000-square-foot police station that would be a single-story building with a brick exterior. It would include parking, a fenced area for impounding vehicles and a sally port for suspect bookings.

The renovation of the existing, two-story building would include adding an elevator and feature an emergency operation center serving both departments. Two, large bays would be added to the rear of the building to house fire trucks.

Gorham Fire Chief Robert Lefebvre on Tuesday cited multiple problems at the aging facility and said it doesn’t meet today’s needs.

“We hope the public recognizes this,” Lefebvre said.

Lefebvre said the facility lacks separate locker rooms, bathrooms and showers for women.

“It’s an issue that needs to be addressed,” Lefebvre said.

The police department has three women and the Fire Department has four full-time women with 25 or 30 overall; Five live-in college students, who augment the Fire Department, are housed in the building and the number could be expanded, if voters approve the proposed project.

Lefebvre said the proposed renovation would include an emergency operation center, where officials could deal with responses in case of storms like the tornado in 2010 or the devastating ice storm several years ago.

A Public Safety Building Committee last year identified a litany of space shortages at the existing facility.

“We’re in desperate need,” Lt. Christopher Sanborn of the Police Department said on Tuesday.

Sanborn cited several issues at the building including sub-standard training rooms and the lack of an impound area.

“There’s a definite need for a new facility,” Sanborn said. “It’s long overdue.”

Lefebvre cited growth of the town to nearly 17,000 and said the Fire Department has grown to 14 full-time employees.

“There were no full-time employees when it was built,” Lefebvre said.

Lefebvre said an upgrade has been in the planning stage for a decade but was set aside during the economic downturn. He said the proposal going to voters next week reduces the overall cost of the plan that voters rejected last year, and the latest proposal would keep the public safety departments at 270 Main St.

Gagnon said he supports the town’s public safety personnel but he said the lack of information has made the decision difficult for him as a voter.

“I’ll be interested to see how this turns out,” he said.

The town is not hosting a public safety open house as it did in last year’s campaign so the public could view existing conditions. However, Sanborn said, residents with questions could call him at 222-1660.

Voters will also decide whether to define the vague term “moral turpitude” in the town’s charter. The proposed amendment language would boot a town councilor with a future “conviction of murder or a class A, B, C, or D crime.”

Police Chief Ronald Shepard said on Tuesday that class D crimes would include operating under the influence for a first offense and with no other circumstances.

“Moral turpitude” became a contentious Town Council issue with two councilors – Phillips in 2012 and Ben Hartwell in 2014 – each pleading guilty to operating under the influence.

The phrase “moral turpitude” is found in the town’s charter in two places – an article relating to the Town Council and another under the Department of Education.

But, if voters approve Tuesday’s referendum question, School Committee members, who are elected, would not appear subject to the same “moral turpitude” definition that would judge town councilors.

In another referendum and with the outcome inconsequential, voters will be asked to accept a federal grant to purchase equipment for the Rescue Department. But, Town Manager David Cole recently notified town councilors that the town quest for the grant wasn’t approved.

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A CLOSER LOOK

Gorham polls are open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Ward 1 – Gorham Middle School, 106 Weeks Road.

Ward 2 – Shaw Gym, Gorham Municipal Center, 75 South St.

Buxton polls are open 6 a.m-8 p.m., at the Town Hall, 185 Portland Road.

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