ANDOVER — Selectmen will try yet again at town meeting on Saturday, March 15, to get voters to approve a townwide property revaluation and fund a rebuilding of Farmers Hill Road.
The board is also asking voters to approve paying SAD 44 $180,000 to keep Andover Elementary School open another year and to decide whether to restart the withdrawal process.
The meeting will be held at 9 a.m. in the Town Hall.
Selectmen have been trying unsuccessfully at town meetings for years to get approval to raise enough money to fund an adjustment of property values.
In Article 34 of the 54-article warrant, selectmen recommend raising and appropriating $70,000 from taxation and taking $33,000 from the designated revaluation account to fund it. In Article 35, selectmen and the Budget Committee are also seeking approval to raise $10,000 for the designated revaluation account.
Selectmen and the committee also recommend raising and appropriating $20,000 in Article 33 to upgrade and update the tax maps prior to doing a revaluation.
Last year, selectmen tried unsuccessfully to raise and appropriate up to $320,000 to reconstruct a mile of Farmers Hill Road. But discussion keyed on the issue of trying to save the elementary school as Andover neared the end of its effort to withdraw from SAD 44.
This year, Article 32, which was added to the warrant as a citizen request, doesn’t specify an amount to raise and/or appropriate in a specific designated account to reconstruct the road.
As for the school proposal in Article 14, Andover paid $140,000 last year to keep the facility open.
In the past three fiscal years, the town has raised $422,000 to keep the small nearly 100-year-old school open. That’s in excess of its approximate $450,000 annual assessment.
This will be the second time that Andover has considered leaving the district, which also includes Bethel, Greenwood, Newry and Woodstock. The first attempt fell six votes shy of the required two-thirds majority in January.
The withdrawal effort began after the district voted to close Andover Elementary School in 2011 to save money. The school serves about 35 students in grades kindergarten to five.
The vote on whether to start the process again will be decided at the annual town meeting secret-ballot referendum on Tuesday, March 18.
Article 3 asks if voters want to file a petition for withdrawal with SAD 44 and the Maine commissioner of education and authorize the Withdrawal Committee to borrow and spend $15,000 for this purpose.
A majority vote is required for passage. Polls will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Town Hall.
Public informational meetings on the issue will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 8, and 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, at the Town Hall.
Among other articles that voters will decide March 15, are:
* Using more than $160,000 from surplus to buy down the tax rate.
* Giving town employees a 3 percent wage increase.
* Raising and appropriating $1,300 to create and maintain a town website.
* Raising and appropriating $6,833 for 21 of 23 social services as recommended by the Budget Committee. Black Mountain Ski Resort requested $2,766 and Mahoosuc Kids Association asked for $2,000, but the committee is recommending zero dollars for both.
In municipal elections, which will be done at the March 18 polls, Jim Adler and Brian Mills are running for a three-year term as a selectman. Selectman Susan Merrow is not seeking re-election. Adler has served on the Planning Board, and Mills is a former two-term selectman.
Additionally, SAD 44 director Tim Akers is seeking re-election and running unopposed for a three-year term.
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