KINGFIELD — Selectmen decided Monday night to hold off on a $670,000 sidewalk project from Depot Street to Kingfield Elementary School.
The town’s 20% share of construction costs would be $134,000.
The project was approved by voters several years ago, but costs have been rising, along with uncertainty about the future of SAD 58, which comprises Kingfield, Strong, Avon and Phillips.
Selectmen said Monday they had heard that Kingfield Elementary School could be closed to save money, and that Avon and Phillips are meeting to discuss withdrawal options.
In those cases, a sidewalk could be an expensive gamble, they said.
“We wanted to hold off until we know what’s happening with the school,” Selectman Wade Browne said.
The town already has paid $10,000 as its share of design and engineering. The Maine Department of Transportation had expected the work to be done in 2020. The town would be obligated to maintain the sidewalk after it’s built.
The school board voted at a recent meeting against extending the sidewalk all the way up the elementary school’s driveway to the door of the school.
In other matters, John Goldfrank, owner of Longfellow’s Restaurant, addressed selectmen about the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s requirement for his business to install a grease trap.
He suggested the town should be responsible for the cost. Over 30 years ago, he said, some other businesses had grease traps installed by the town, but he was not part of that project. He does have an access point that can be cleaned, but wastewater department employees don’t clean commercial grease traps. That maintenance must be done by an outside contractor, he said.
Selectman Morgan Dunham suggested that they could consider splitting the costs with the restaurant, but Goldfrank declined the offer.
“If somehow you can find fault with Longfellow’s Restaurant over the past 36 years, I’d be willing to listen,” he said. “I’m pretty adamant that this isn’t the way you should treat ratepayers.”
Selectmen agreed to return to the matter at a future meeting.
Also on Monday, they signed the warrant for the 2019-20 budget. At the June 1 town meeting, some articles will be presented to voters as capped amounts. Voters may approve less money but can’t increase the request from the floor.
In other matters:
- Selectmen revisited a recurring, expensive problem at the transfer station’s recycling facility. If items such as laundry detergent containers, cans, bottles and other containers are not clean before they go in the recycling bin, they are taken out and billed as regular trash. According to administrative assistant Leanna Targett, the town paid an extra $18,000 last year to dispose of those dirty recyclables.
- On Sunday, May 19, the town will welcome hundreds of runners as they finish the 37th annual Sugarloaf Marathon and 15-kilometer race. Representatives told selectmen the marathon has 1,897 runners registered for the races, which finish in Kingfield.
- Selectmen continued their review of a cost-sharing structure for the use of the town-owned Webster Hall. The municipality has not had a fixed pricing policy, so the goal is to have fair charges for everyone. A group using the kitchen to heat water for coffee is not using the same resources as a large group that prepares a full Thanksgiving meal, they agreed. Some groups use the ovens to reheat food, and some do not use the kitchen at all. Selectmen also discussed if nonprofit organizations or senior groups with regular social meetings should not be charged the same as a wedding reception or a family reunion. Targett will continue to fine tune the options and costs, which will be put to a vote at a future meeting.
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