HOULTON, Maine — Town Manager Butch Asselin discussed departmental requests that should be considered as he reviewed the community’s five year capital plan on Monday evening.
During the Town Council meeting, which was the last for Asselin who is leaving for a job as town manager in Oxford, he discussed a number of items that councilors should consider funding in next year’s budget.
Asselin said that each of the town’s department heads had prepared their own report.The department with the biggest needs was still the town’s Public Works Department, he said, which has a number of aging vehicles and pieces of equipment that could be replaced.
For the first time, officials at the Houlton International Airport requested funding for a tractor and rotary mower and broom, according to Asselin. He said that the grass on the infield areas of the airport need to be mowed to increase visibility and improve appearance at the airport. Such work is required by the Federal Aviation Administration, he added. The public works department previously has mowed the area only once a year, but the outgoing town manager felt that it would be best to buy the equipment to let the airport and cemetery departments share and use going forward.
The capital plan also calls for budgeting $38,770 for a municipal revaluation in 2021, Asselin said.
The total five year amount for the capital plan is $3.8 million, which is an increase of $478,976 over last year. Asselin said that the town is retiring a loan in 2018, so the town could consider another loan through the Maine Municipal Bond Bank at that time.
The councilors approved the capital plan, but final votes on funding requests will be made in the future.
