The Woolwich Selectboard, in response to a petition which was circulated by resident Donald Adams and signed by 181 voters, will permit Woolwich residents to vote on whether the annual Patten Free Library funding request should be moved from a vote at the annual town meeting and instead voted on in June. The petition asked for an article about the vote to be added to the town warrant in May 2015.

The issue was discussed at the Woolwich Selectboard meeting on March 2, but a final decision was tabled pending review and a decision by an attorney at Maine Municipal Association. It was subsequently determined that Woolwich has no charter so the petition itself was not necessary and the proposed change did not require approval by the Selectboard. However, the Board agreed to support the residents requesting the measure.

At the Woolwich town meeting in May, residents will be asked to vote to approve a secret ballot on Library funding in June. If the measure is approved by residents, the $50,688 allocated from Woolwich to the Patten Free Library would appear on the June 9 ballot. At that time, Woolwich residents would have the opportunity to vote on the funding. However, if a majority of Woolwich residents do not approve moving the issue to the June ballot, a vote would take place during the town meeting to authorize the contribution.

Reached for comment, Mary Ellen Kazimer, president of the trustees of Bath’s Patten Free Library, expressed surprise that the petition had been circulated. “No one at the Library was contacted to ask any questions about the Library or its funding,” she said. Kazimer explained that the “open discussion” format of the town meeting had provided a suitable venue for the funding vote in the past and that moving the vote to the June election, “Doesn’t seem appropriate.”

The June ballot issue will not become permanent and is only valid for the current year unless the Selectboard creates a permanent change in the funding process.