NORWAY — Property owners will see their taxes increase slightly due to the rate set by the Select Board last week.
The board settled on a 60-cent hike, the lowest of the three proposals presented Thursday by interim assessor John O’Donnell and recommended by interim Town Manager Bradley Plante. The tax rate was set at $14.70 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Last year’s rate was of $14.10.
A property assessed at $200,000 will see an increase of $120.
The new rate will give the town an overlay of nearly $39,000.
The other rates considered were $14.75 and $14.80, which would have left a sizable overlay that Plante considered too high. The board unanimously agreed.
Plante said tax bills will be sent within the next two weeks.
In other business, the board agreed to a request from Norway Paris Solid Waste to hold a joint public hearing with neighboring Paris on changing operating hours of the waste transfer station on Brown Street in Norway to give employees two consecutive days off.
The Norway Paris Solid Waste facility is closed Mondays and Thursdays. Its board of directors wants to gauge the public’s opinion for changing the hours instead of making a unilateral decision on which days to close. The two proposals being considered are Monday and Tuesday or Tuesday and Wednesday.
The hearing will likely be held at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris in October or early November at a time and date to be determined.
The board renewed a lease agreement with Community Concepts for the Children’s Center 41 Beal St. The five-year lease includes a certificate of insurance from Community Concepts indicating the building is covered with a replacement value of $500,000.
The Town and Country Community Center Association was granted its request to operate an additional day of bingo Wednesdays at 1 p.m. open to park residents only.
Plante reminded residents that the Town Clerk’s Office will be closed Thursday, Sept. 21, for mandatory state training for staff.
Applications for town manager closed Friday and officials will review them this week and decide who to interview.
Applications for counter clerk are being reviewed. No qualified applicants sought the equipment operator’s job, Plante said.
Plante reported paving is completed on Sodom and Eddie Kahkonen roads and Pleasant and Brown streets.
Meetings are planned with Kruger Energy on possibly restarting the hydro generator at Lake Pennesseewassee Dam and the hydro dam downstream.
The town is looking to fill a vacancy on the Zoning Board of Appeals and vacancies for alternates on the Norway Paris Solid Waste and Planning boards.
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