The Presque Isle City Council is going to have to wait for the school district budget to set its next property tax rate, while addressing a number of other issues through the end of the summer.
At its July 27, 2016 meeting, the city council agreed on a major issue that’s been discussed since this winter: whether or how to charge people using the new community center that’s set to open in October.
After exploring a number of options, including charging user fees and seeking contributions from neighboring towns, the council voted to let people use the community center free of charge, while tracking the trends in usage and continuing to charge program fees for activities like youth soccer.
The goal the council agreed to is trying “to get as many people in the building using it as we possibly can” and still keeping options open for the future, as Council Chair Emily Smith said.
Under the policy, children and adults from all communities will be able to use the community center’s amenities for free, such as open gym, the walking track and senior’s space, while specific programs will still come with the standard $25 fee plus $50 for non-Presque Isle residents
The council came to the agreement after considering numerous options and concluding that charging users a fee just to use open gym or the walking track would actually cost the city government more money.
The Presque Isle Recreation and Parks Department estimated that costs for two part-time staff to run a front desk and collect user fees would costs upwards of $40,000 a year, while the revenue brought in by users fees could be less than half of that.
In other community center news, the council also approved on July 27 a “change order” for the construction contract estimated to add around $70,000 in additional costs to pay for a floor sealant.
“Basically what we need to do is seal the concrete floor, because the moisture content in the floor is too high to set down the next layer of flooring,” said city manager Martin Puckett.
The sealant work would let the center continue on schedule, rather than waiting for months for the moisture to decline – although it also left councillors with some disappointment that this issue wasn’t anticipated and raised previously by the architects and contractors.
“I think it’s something the architect should have taken care of, regardless of whether we were going to pay for it today or when we did the bid,” said councillor Leigh Smith. “We should have known about it.”
Their vote approving the change order included the stipulation, added by councillor Richard Engels, that “We seek help in paying for it from whatever source might be possible.” The additional cost to the $7.5 million community center may end up being less than $70,000 if the architects or contractors can be negotiated with, said Parks and Recreation Director Chris Beaulieu.
At an August 1 meeting, the council started having a discussion about fireworks, after a number of residents voiced concerns to the city.
“My dog is terrified,” said Penny McFadden, a retiree and 40-year resident of Presque Isle who lives on Dupont Drive. McFadden said it seemed to her that fireworks had become more common outside of holiday celebrations, and asked the council to try to address the issue.
There have been no fireworks accidents in Presque Isle since the pyrotechnic materials became legal for the general public in 2013, but it could “happen eventually,” Presque Isle Fire Chief Darrell White told the council.
“I think they’re a fire danger,” White said, adding that he was “amazed at the sounds” and concerned about their potential to drift in winds.
Councillor Emily Smith said she shared the concerns, although “was hoping that the novelty of fireworks being legal would wear off.” Since that hasn’t happened, she and the rest of the council agreed that they should consider possible ordinances for controlling fireworks and they plan to hold a workshop and public meeting in the months to come.
In other local government news, the council approved a plan by the Northern Maine Regional Airport to purchase a new tractor and a new snowblower. The council signed off a plan for the airport to buy a $66,000 replacement tractor for mowing grass areas around the runways in accordance with federal air safety regulations.
The airport will also be purchasing a new $639,000, 500-horsepower snowblower, replacing an older one, that’s used in conjunction with three plows to keep the runways under-control during the winter. Most of the snowblower’s cost will be covered the Federal Aviation Administration, with a small percentage covered by the state and an airport fund supported by airplane ticket fees.
The council also signed off on a plan by the airport to drain the small artificial pond on its property and fill it with the airport’s old taxiway pavement that’s being replaced this summer. Airport Director Scott Wardwell said the Department of Environmental Protection okayed the idea, but wanted the council to approve it as well.
The city council was supposed to set a mill rate for property taxes, but has again tabled that decision pending the outcome of the School Administrative District 1 budget, which likely will not be finalized until late August or September when voters will be asked to approve a third version of the spending package.
The last mill rate was set at $25.46 per $1,000 of assessed property value, and in 2015 $19.7 million was claimed by residents for the homestead exemption, according to the city’s most recent annual report. Uncollected property taxes as of the end of 2015 totalled $1.36 million.
