Island Falls residents OK $808,734 municipal budget

ISLAND FALLS, Maine — Concerns over rising costs for road maintenance dominated discussion at the Island Falls annual town meeting Saturday afternoon.
    About 60 residents spent more than three hours debating 41 warrant articles in a marathon meeting that also featured a 45-minute recess for supper. All of the warrant articles passed, albeit not with considerable discussion from voters.
Voters approved a total municipal budget of $808,734. That figure is up from last year’s appropriated amount of $659,835. Town Manager David Dionne, who came on board as town manager in December, said the total budget, including estimates for the RSU 50 budget and county tax, is $1,718,738.
Fred Anderson once again served as moderator for the meeting. Two incumbents were re-elected to the town’s board of selectmen. Terry Dwyer received 133 votes, while Jeff Brooks received 113 votes. Others receiving votes were former selectman Brady Hatch, 59 votes; Joshua Rockwell, 49; Toby Lougee, 41; Alan Schenk, two; and Don Hallett, Kevin Dubois and Rod Stewart each had one vote.
A number of warrant articles featured increases over the previous year, which prompted considerable debate from residents.
An article on administration, planning board, health officer, contractual services and assessing building values, featured a $42,000 increase over the previous year. Board member Paige Colville said there were increases in the training account for the new town manager and other town officials, but some of those costs were offset by the fact that the new town manager opted not to enroll in the insurance plan.
The town office operation line account was also up about $19,000 from last year. Colville said that increase was due to the need for general maintenance to be performed on the municipal building, as well as the need for new computer systems to replace ones that were between 10-14 years old.
“There is a need for us to be looking at general maintenance on this building which has been put aside,” Colville said. “There are areas where the sills are rotting. We have leakage in terms of heat going out. There are a lot of repair pieces to be done.”
Legal services increased from $3,000 in 2011 to $7,000 for 2012. Colville said the town has a number of liens and foreclosures on properties in the town that are anticipated to be completed in 2012 which required the extra money in legal services.
The topic of road maintenance and snow removal was a popular topic for debate. In 2011, the town appropriated $76,800 for snow plowing and salt/sanding of town roads, but actually spent $87,817. The amount for 2012 was recommended at $92,500.
Numerous residents expressed their displeasure with how the roads and sidewalks were plowed and how salt and sand was distributed on those roads. There are about 13 miles of roads within town limits.
Colville said the board would re-examine its plowing contract before next winter and would consider other options for the town. She added no decisions had been made by selectmen on the plowing contract for next season.
The motion to approve $92,500 for snow removal passed by a vote of 35-20.
Another hot topic was an article to raise $25,000 for demolition of “dangerous and derelict buildings” within the town.
Colville explained the town had three town-owned buildings it was considering for demolition.
“These are buildings that have come through tax foreclosure,” she explained. “The one that readily comes to mind is the former Warsaw house on Sherman Street. It looks like it is fairly safe until you get closer and look inside. I would not recommend that anybody go inside.”
Colville said the town has put the property up for bid three times, hoping to sell it for the amount owed in back taxes, but had no takers.
“There are some real questions on how do we do this,” she said. “It’s very close to the buildings that are right there. I go to bed and say my prayers every night and pray that nobody goes in there and that it doesn’t catch on fire.”
Disposing of the materials once a building is demolished comes with a price tag, Colville said. The $25,000 recommended was not solely for the Warsaw property. She said there were two others the town was looking at as well.
Burying the demolition debris on site is sometimes an option, Colville said, but it depends on what is on the property and where the property is located. The Warsaw building has a large amount of old tires stored in a portion of the property.
“We don’t want this to be a further liability to the town,” Colville said. “This will be a bid project. However it is finally decided, we will do it in the way that makes the best sense to the town.”
One suggestion was for the town to explore grant money to assist with this project before spending taxpayers’ dollars.
The article was passed by a vote of 21-18.
Voters OK’d $2,500 for the Island Falls Historical Society after trimming that figure to just $500 the previous year. President Reneva Smith said the amount of $2,500 was desperately needed simply to cover the costs of heating their buildings.
“In order for any projects to go forward, we need the $2,500 to heat the building,” Smith said. “That’s keeping the building on 50-55 degrees in the winter. If we do not heat it, we are going to lose all the work we have done there. We spent all of our time last year to raise money just to heat the building.”
Smith said no additional work was done last year because all of the group’s time was spent raising money for the heating fund. Work such as installing cement in the basement to prevent the spread of mold and fungus was a top priority for the group this year. Finishing the exterior with clapboards is another project the group wishes to complete.
“There are only so many bake sales we can have,” she said.
The moderator implored those in attendance to support the historical society.
“If that organization fails, the town gets the whole thing to manage,” he said. “You get all of the buildings, all the antiques, the fuel bill and the insurance bill. Right now, the committee is earning half of that for you. There’s $100,000 worth of assets there. I’m partial to the organization. I wish we could get more people involved. It’s our stuff, we have to take care of it.”
Voters approved the request for $2,500.
A request for $250 for the town’s senior citizens group was defeated by a vote of 19 “yes” and 22 “no.” The amount requested was then raised to $500, which was approved.
Several residents asked the town to do a better job of maintaining and replacing worn flags in the community, stating last summer numerous flags were flown that should have been retired. Colville said the town would be more cognizant of the flags flying within in the community and would explore purchasing new flags made of stronger material.
In his town manager’s report, Dionne stated although he had only been on the job a short amount of time, he was looking at ways the town could operate more efficiently.
“One idea on how we are planning to compete for growth in the future is to seek out volunteerism and to gather working parties,” he wrote. “In order to compete, the town really has to show it wants new business and growth here. Sprucing up the town is a good place to start.”
The town clerk’s report indicated there were seven births, seven marriages and 11 deaths in the community in 2011.