OTISFIELD — Longtime Selectman Lenny Adler and Maine School Administrative District 17 Director Diana Olson won reelection in close contests at Saturday’s annual town meeting.

Adler received 31 votes and challenger Brandon Bedell had 26. Olsen received 32 votes and challenger Kelly Crockett had 26.

In 2024, when the board expanded from three to five people, Anne Pastore was elected to a three-year term and Frank “Buddy” Blauvelt Jr. to a two-year term over Bedell. Mike Newsome defeated Crockett by one vote.

Saturday also marked the last time residents will select their officials during the annual town meeting. An article proposing voters elect officers by secret ballot during state elections in June passed 44-13.

When voters were asked to choose the chairperson of the Select Board, Chairperson Hal Ferguson and Rick Micklon were nominated, but Micklon withdrew from consideration. Ferguson received 39 votes to continue in the role.

Voters passed an article to have the Select Board choose its chairman in the future, rather than voters.

All financial articles passed with little or no discussion. The town’s 2026-27 budget was set at $2.6 million, a 4% increase over this year.

The only article that included dissenting statements and questions was one to revise the Solar Generation Systems Ordinance. The revision would exempt Maine Community Power, which plans to construct an array on town property on Swampville Road from the rules regulating solar development under three acres, defined as a solar “garden” and not a farm.

The project was approved at a special town meeting this year. However, Maine Community Power learned it could not build the noncommercial project to conform to Central Maine Power stipulations and would require a waiver of Otisfield’s solar ordinance to continue.

Planning Board Chairperson Sarah Burnham said that while she recommended the waiver be approved, the Planning Board was not made aware that the change would be a one-time waiver rather than a comprehensive revision of the ordinance until the Select Board changed the language during its May 7 business meeting.

One resident spoke in opposition to the article and took the Planning Board to task for a waiver that grants one developer special treatment.

Micklon asserted that Burnham misspoke when she said the matter had become complicated by a lack of transparency over the wording.

Burnham doubled down on her statement that the Planning Board had not been provided with complete information before it recommended the ordinance revision.

Voters overwhelmingly approved the one-time exemption because it will benefit the community.

Lower income residents who enroll with Maine Community Power will receive a 20% discount on their service and all other residents qualify for a 15% discount. The solar garden will provide discounted power for Otisfield municipal facilities when it goes online, and the town will earn $4,000 annually from property taxes.

The Planning Board held workshops in May and June on revising rules surrounding smaller-scale solar development. Burnham said she expects to present a more comprehensive ordinance revision to the Select Board and voters by early next year.

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