Special town meeting on Castine daycare lease, fire station funds

While RFP for new daycare has not been released, vote would give authority to negotiate lease to streamline process, town manager says

March 25, 2026

By Emily Baer

The Round School. File photo.

The Town of Castine will host a special town meeting on March 28 to vote to confirm the purpose of the Fire Rescue Building Reserve Account and to authorize the select board to negotiate a lease for the operation of a childcare center at 39 State Street, known locally as the Round School.

The wording of the warrant article regarding the fire station account asks: “Shall the Town vote to confirm that the purpose of the Fire Rescue Building Reserve Account is to fund the construction of new fire and rescue buildings, including but not limited to land purchase,design, engineering, and constructions costs, and to fund repairs, renovations, and other improvements, including the design, engineering, and construction costs for said improvements, to existing fire and rescue buildings, including but not limited to training facilities and satellite or substation buildings?”

Town manager Derek Goodine says the vote on the fire rescue building reserve account is a matter of the town seeking “clarification” on how those funds are spent.

“There’s been some questions of whether the money is for a sub-station or a fire rescue building,” he said. “We’re trying to correct that and clarify that [the account] is for any type of public safety related structure.”

Meanwhile, the wording of the warrant article regarding the proposed land lease for the Round School location is as follows:

“To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectboard to negotiate and enter into a lease for the operation of a childcare center at the Town property located at 39 State Street and further identified as Map 24, Lot 18 on the Castine Tax Maps, for an initial lease term of up to five (5) years; and to further authorize the Selectboard to negotiate and enter into renewals, following a Public Hearing on the lease renewal?’

While the town has not yet finalized or distributed a request for proposals for a daycare in Castine, town officials are seeking to streamline the process by asking voters to approve their ability to negotiate and enter into a lease once applications have been vetted and a selection is made.

“What we’re trying to do is streamline [the process],” says town manager Derek Goodine. “We’re finalizing the RFP and once it goes out we don’t want there to be a delay.”

The vote on Saturday is to avoid needing to have a town meeting after the RFP goes out. Goodine says no new lease has been created and that town officials will review and improve the old lease to “add new conditions” before a new lease is negotiated. But, before that happens, there will be opportunity for public input.

“We’re not sure yet how we’re going to do [the application review], if it’s a committee or the selectboard,” says Goodine. “But we do intend to have a public hearing of any proposed lease so we can make sure that the conditions that are important to people are met.”

If the article on the ground lease does not pass, Goodine says it will only slow the process. 

“If we slow down the process it could be close to fall when we get another daycare in,” he said. “We want to move the needle here.”

Goodine said he is aware of interest from daycare providers in the area but said the town has not received any direct inquiries from potential operators.

The special town meeting will be held at Emerson Hall on Saturday, March 28 starting at 8:30 a.m.