CARRABASSETT VALLEY — Townspeople passed all 59 articles and re-elected town officials during Wednesday’s annual town meeting and elections.
Voters approved the town’s involvement in the application for a $300,000 Economic Development grant through the State of Maine Community Development Block Grant for a proposed family entertainment center called Sugarbowl.
Resident Kerry Audet requested the town’s help in his plan for the center, which includes 10 bowling lanes, golf simulators, redemption-ticket game room, sports bar and restaurant. The proposed center will be on the Sugarloaf Access Road.
The grant will be used exclusively for the bowling lanes and accessories, according to town notices. The grant requires creation of the equivalent of one full-time job for every $30,000 in grant money received.
Voters also approved hiring an assistant police chief as a town employee rather than a Sugarloaf security employee. They approved spending $120,502 for police protection, which includes some funding for the second town police officer.
The Fire Department’s request to use $40,000 from its equipment reserve account for a new one-ton truck with accessories was also approved. Voters also raised $32,448 to add to the equipment reserve account, which has $132,580.
Voters appropriated $40,000 for the swimming pool reserve account, up from the $13,000 appropriated in 2012. There is now $94,655 in the account.
A committee is working to secure funding, including grants, for a new town pool with an estimated cost of up to $500,000.
A new vinyl liner was installed in 2009 that added an expected five years before the town would have to address the issue, according to budget handouts.
During the day, voters re-elected two selectmen, two School Committee members and two sanitary district officials for three-year terms. Also on the ballot was a third position on the School Committee for one year to complete the term of a resigned member, Town Clerk Wendy Russell said.
All officers were unopposed. Selectman Lloyd Cutter got 74 votes and Robert Luce had 88.
Elected to serve three years on the School Committee were Jane Luce with 89 votes and Jennifer McCormack with 38. For the one-year position, Kimberly Kearing received 85 votes.
For the Sanitary District, Carl Dutch Demshar had 86 votes and Claude Neal Trask received 90 votes, she said.
The municipal budget represents a potential small increase in property taxes from 2012. The tax rate for 2013 is estimated to be $6.40 per thousand of valuation. It was $6.30 per thousand in 2012, according to town budget releases.
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