LUDLOW, Maine — A small group of 15 voters approved a decreased municipal budget Thursday, Aug. 5, during Ludlow’s annual meeting.
At $332,915, the 2021 municipal budget represents a decrease of $2,549 from the previous spending plan. The town was able to achieve this decrease by using funds from its surplus account.
Included in the warrant articles was appropriating $28,000 from surplus to go toward the creation of the proposed Southern Aroostook Emergency Medical Services for ambulance coverage for the town.
Previously, Ludlow had contracted with Houlton for ambulance services, but after seeing rates jump dramatically for 2021, the town, along with 11 other communities, decided to explore creating its own ambulance service.
Because it will take some time for that ambulance service to be created, the town also had to allocate $28,194 to cover the cost of using Houlton’s ambulance service for 2021. Those funds were also taken out of the town’s surplus account.
During voting earlier in the day, Greg Dow and Theron Bickford were elected to the town’s Board of Selectmen with 21 votes and 15 votes, respectively. Bickford is an incumbent on the board, while Dow served as a selectman in the past.
John Austin was also re-elected to the SAD 70 school board with 26 votes.
Town Manager Diane Hines said she was impressed by the voter turnout and cited there was a concern from the general public about the condition of the Moose Brook Road.
“We are actually in the process of seeking quotes and have our engineer managing the process to rebuild the first half mile of the Moose Brook Road,” Hines explained. “The surface of that section of the road has been problematic ever since the hot top was removed around 15 years ago.”
