NEWRY — Selectmen voted Tuesday to spend up to $4,000 on a new website for the town.
The current one, they said, is expected to become nonfunctional soon.
The new site would be provided by Mainely Web of Buxton. Under the arrangement, the town would own the site and email service for town officials would be associated with it.
Town Administrator Amy Bernard said the email format would be compliant with the Freedom of Access Act. The current email setup, under Gmail, technically is not compliant because each town official “owns” his or her account.
The $4,000 has already been budgeted, Bernard said, and would cover the initial website setup. Upgrades would be needed every two to four years after that, at an estimated cost of $3,000 to $4,000, she said.
The service provider is the same one Bernard used while she was town manager of Paris. She also researched another company for Newry, but that company would own the website and the selectmen said they were not comfortable with that.
Bernard said assessing information on the website might cost an additional fee.
In another assessing-related discussion, Bernard said the town should get a revaluation done in the next few years, perhaps putting the work out to bid in 2020. She estimated the cost could be $250,000 because Newry has so many properties.
The last revaluation was done in 2005. They are recommended every 10 years, Bernard said, in order to ensure equity.
“It’s the right thing to do for people who own property,” she said.
In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, the board decided to post speed limit signs for 40 mph on Monkey Brook Road, which branches off Sunday River Road.
After the town received complaints of speeding from some residents, Bernard said, the Maine Department of Transportation did a speed study on the road early in the summer. The study found that 85 percent of drivers were going about 40 mph, and MDOT recommended that limit.
The signs will be included in next year’s budget and are expected to be put up next summer. Bernard said there would be one or two at a cost of about $140 each.
The board also approved liquor licenses for Sunday River Resort and Shipyard Brew Pub.
The next selectmen meeting is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, at the Town Office.
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