MONMOUTH — Voters next month will decide whether to make it easier to recall elected officials and to accept a $400,000 grant for a facelift at the town Grange.

The five-question local ballot will accompany statewide questions Nov. 8. Voting in Monmouth is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Cumston Hall on Main Street.

Selectmen have scheduled a public hearing on the local warrant for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Town Office on Main Street.

The current ordinance requires a two-thirds majority to recall an elected official successfully.

Resident Martin Bumann had tried to include an amendment to the Town Meeting warrant asking for approval to reduce the threshold for recall to a simple majority. Bumann failed to meet the petition deadline to add the question to the June warrant. Selectmen agreed to consider changes for the November ballot.

The selectmen’s proposal would amend the ordinance to require a simple majority for a successful recall, but the vote would be official only if at least 10 percent of the town’s registered voters take part.

Voters on Nov. 8 also will decide whether the town should accept a $400,000 grant from the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development to complete renovations at the Monmouth Grange at 775 Main St. The grant is on top of the more than $450,000 in grants voters approved last year; neither sum requires any matching funds from the town.

Work on the Grange building, which includes a new foundation, has started. David Greenham — who recently stepped down as producing director for The Theater at Monmouth, which owns the Grange — said the additional $400,000 would allow completion of the project, including an elevator and new roof and siding.

Voters also will be asked Nov. 8 to amend the town’s shoreland zoning ordinance to allow, under certain circumstances, a 25-foot setback from the edge of a right-of-way or property line.

The local ballot also includes a proposal to extend the period for recording a town-approved subdivision plan with the Kennebec County Registry of Deeds from 30 days to 90 days.

Craig Crosby — 621-5642
ccrosby@centralmaine.com