PHIPPSBURG, Maine — Some local officials want Sagadahoc County voters to have a say on the county budget, which only the three county commissioners now approve. Supporters told the Phippsburg Select Board on Wednesday night that they are drafting possible state legislation and want feedback from towns before anything is filed.

"Three people vote on the budget," one of the presenters told the board. "The three commissioners, and that's it." He said the county has about 37,500 residents. He also said residents vote on their school and town budgets but have no comparable vote on the county budget, which is paid for through local property taxes.

He said they were working with a legislator on a bill that would require every Maine county to put its budget to a referendum. He also said he wants the effort to address the county's annual audit. He told the board he had filed a Freedom of Access Act request for the county's latest audited figures and had repeatedly asked how much the county holds in undesignated surplus.

Under state law, a majority of the Sagadahoc County commissioners approves the county budget. A budget advisory committee reviews it first and makes recommendations. That committee has two municipal officials and one public member from each of the county's three commissioner districts, according to the county's website. The county says the committee has approval authority only if the budget exceeds the state's growth cap on county spending.

A second presenter said the proposal was still at the information-gathering stage and agreed that final authority over the budget should rest with the elected commissioners. That presenter said they have been talking with budget committee members, select board members around the county and the county administrator. They have also been looking at counties where a budget committee can overrule commissioners with a two-thirds or three-fifths vote. Changing state law is one route, the presenter said, and a county charter is another, though they were not sure a charter was the way to go.

The presenters said they would prefer to have every town in the county on board before going to the Legislature, and would bring a draft back to the towns for comment.

State Rep. Allison Hepler, a Woolwich Democrat whose district includes Phippsburg, attended the meeting.

Navy dredging to begin Dec. 1

The board also received a Navy notice that dredging on the lower Kennebec River is scheduled to begin Dec. 1 and may happen day or night. Under the notice, about 35,000 cubic yards of material will be removed near Doubling Point, 10,000 cubic yards near the mouth of the river at Popham Beach and 15,000 cubic yards from the Bath reach. The material will be hauled to Jackknife Ledge along the same route used before.

A board member said the town's shellfish committee would be alerted, because silt from past dredging has affected clam flats. The notice will be posted at the Town Hall.

Abandoned boats

Phippsburg's harbormaster asked the board to pay half the roughly $1,200 cost of a conference on marine debris and abandoned vessels, drawing on the town's harbormaster fund. He said he has been working with Hepler, a state senator and the state harbormasters' association on possible legislation. One idea is a fund towns could draw on when an abandoned boat has to be removed. He said Bath spent about $27,000 to remove one vessel.

One board member objected to spending any town money on the trip. The board instead voted to have the town administrator look for outside money, such as a grant or a scholarship, to cover the cost.

In other business, the board appointed James Looney to the Comprehensive Plan Committee and accepted a $2,000 donation to the town's goodwill fund. Its next meeting is Nov. 18.