Council set following the election

DEXTER — Two days after residents headed to the polls, the Dexter Town Council had its first post-election meeting on Nov. 10 with one new face and another councilor taking part in his last meeting for the time being.

Charles “Chuck” Ellms was elected to a one-year term, finishing first in a three-candidate race to replace a vacancy from earlier in the year.

“The good news is we welcome Chuck to the council tonight, and the bad news is Ron leaving because his term is up,” Town Manager Shelley Watson said.

Council Ron Apel was not reelected to another three-year term, as incumbents Sharon Grant and Mark Robichaud and former councilor Peter Haskell will fill a trio of three-year positions on the council. Haskell will start his term next month.

Council Chair Michael Blake presented Apel with a framed certificate for his service to Dexter. “I will say I enjoyed it, I learned a lot,” Apel said. “Maybe I will try again,” he said about possibly running in the future.

“The turnout was huge, I think it was a record number of votes,” Watson said as 1,829 citizens took part for a turnout of 72 percent. Watson said the 430 absentee ballots cast and 153 new voters registered on Nov. 8 were both new high marks for the town.

The town manager also reported the annual tree lighting and children’s Christmas party is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 2, with more information to come as the date approaches.

Last winter Dexter and Corinna worked together to haul sand for mutual benefit. Blake said he has talked with several Corinna selectmen and those officials said they are in favor of the neighboring communities continuing the partnership and looking at other ways to pool resources.