CARRABASSETT VALLEY — Voters will consider 60 articles amounting to a proposed budget of $2.3 million when they gather Wednesday for the annual town meeting.
Voters will be asked to offset the proposed budget with town revenues of $462,410, making a proposed net budget of $1.85 million, Town Manager Dave Cota said.
The meeting begins with elections held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, at the Town Office. The meeting reconvenes at 7:30 p.m. at the Outdoor Center to address individual articles.
Elections involve all incumbents running for another three-year term, Town Clerk Wendy Russell said. On the ballot are Selectmen John Beaupre and Tom Butler; Sanitary District Trustees Stephen Pierce and Richard Smith; and for School Committee, Danielle London.
Some items under consideration by the town are the addition of fuel tanks to the airport, funds to continue work on mountain bike trails, a child care issue for Western Maine Center for Children and leasing property for an adaptive outdoor recreation center, Cota said.
Installation of fuel tanks for aircraft at the airport, a $350,000 project, requires up to a 5 percent investment, or $17,500, by the town, he said. The Federal Aviation Association pays 90 percent with funds from the sale of airline tickets and 5 percent comes from the state, he said.
In the long term, revenues from fuel sales are expected to help with airport operation costs, Cota said in the town report.
Voters will also be asked whether to allow the Western Maine Center for Children to continue at the town’s Library/Community Building rent free and with utilities provided for at least 2015, he said.
Five years ago, the 6,600-square foot building was built with one-third of the space planned for the nonprofit children’s center. They have paid $1,000 a month in rent, along with one-third of the utility costs, about $2,000, he said.
Because of numbers and a loss of subsidies, the center is unable to continue paying the rent and utilities, he said.
Over the past four years, there has been an aggressive program to build a mountain bike trail destination, second to none in Maine, he said. Continuing that effort has voters considering a total of $245,000 for trail development, he said.
Eight full-time town employees worked on the mountain bike trails last year, he said. The project is a cooperative effort between the town, Mountain Bike Club and Maine Huts and Trails.
The town is also considering a long-term lease of 1.5 acres of town property for an adaptive outdoor recreation center, he said.
Residents Bruce and Anne Marie Albiston, co-founders of the Albiston Foundation, propose to build the center and work with other agencies to provide the service for people with disabilities.
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