FREEPORT — In an election that attracted about 66 percent of the town’s registered voters, residents Tuesday elected James Hendricks to an at-large seat on the Town Council.
Unofficial results showed Hendricks beat Henry “Chip” Lawrence III 1,969 to 1,182. Hendricks will replace council Chairman Bill Muldoon, who did not seek re-election.
“This was my first campaign and it’s alright,” Lawrence said Tuesday at the polls. “I will run again.”
Hendricks, 38, of West Street, is the owner of Freeport Integrated Health Center on South Freeport Road. Originally from Rockland, he received a bachelor’s degree from Springfield College in Springfield, Mass., and a second bachelor’s and a Doctorate of Chiropractic from the National College of Chiropractic.
He has lived in Freeport since 2002, and served on the boards of the Freeport Rotary and Casco Bay YMCA. He is also a member of the Freeport Chamber of Commerce.
“I am happy to have won,” he said Wednesday morning. “I don’t have an agenda, but my goal is to do this for the community. I will do the best job I can.”
Of Freeport’s 6,200 registered voters, about 4,155 voters came to the polls.
Town Clerk Beverly Curry said there were about 1,000 absentee ballots cast and a steady stream of people at the polls all day.
“With a team of four people, we counted all the absentees by 1:30 p.m.” she said. “It was much smoother that way.”
In an uncontested race for the District 1 Town Council seat, incumbent Councilor Sara Gideon of Bow Street, who filled the unexpired term of Genie Beaulieu, received 796 votes. She will serve a three-year term.
Sewer District
In a race to fill two seats on the Sewer District Board of Trustees, Thomas Hudak beat Dale Sawyer by just two votes. Hudak received 1,573 votes to Sawyer’s 1,571.
Garrett Simmons will fill the other available seat with 1,606 votes.
Sawyer on Wednesday morning said he would not challenge the vote.
“I have faith in the system,” he said. “It is important to me that those who are affected by the local waterfront have a voice and I feel that the people who won will do a great job.”
The seats were vacated by Ed Hindley of Wardtown Road and F. Donald Dorsey of South Freeport Road, neither of whom sought re-election.
Hudak, 63, of Park Street, is a school bus driver and head custodian at Freeport High School. He attended Waterville High School and received his bachelor’s degree in geology from Ricker College in Houlton. He has a commercial fishing license and is a sewer district ratepayer.
“I will sincerely try my best to improve the situation (at the sewer plant,)” he said. “I know a lot of people are concerned about the bay and keeping it clean. It supports a lot of people in our community and is a valuable ecosystem.”
Simmons, 47, of Litchfield Road, is the manager of S&S Seafood, a certified shellfish dealer. He graduated from Freeport High School and Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute (now SMCC).
He said he will resign from the Freeport Shellfish Commission, where is is currently chairman.
“I am happy to be elected to the board,” he said.
Incumbent John Karp of Timber Way won an uncontested race for a seat on the Water District and received 2,439 votes.
Regional School Unit 5
Three uncontested seats on the RSU 5 Board of Directors were filled by incumbent Brenda Kielty of Linwood Road and newcomers Peter Murray of Redding Lane and Holbrook Street resident Karin VanNostrand.
Kielty received 2,316 votes and Murray received 2,448 votes. They will serve three-year terms.
VanNostrand received 3,002 votes for a one-year seat on the RSU 5 board.
Amy Anderson can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 110 or aanderson@theforecaster.net
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