VAN BUREN, Maine – Multiple community projects in Van Buren are progressing, as officials work to keep up the momentum after being only one of 17 towns in the country to get a Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design grant last year.
Town Manager Luke Dyer updated the town council on the status of several projects during an April 24 meeting.
The town is moving forward with the Maine DOT Village Partnership Initiative program. Van Buren held a meeting on March 6 in which officials listened to public comments about roads in town. The Village Partnership program helps communities revitalize their downtowns and village centers. A village center is an area that includes a religious or civic facility, provides goods, services and housing, and has a speed limit of under 30 miles per hour.
Dyer said he and officials have an April 25 meeting with consulting engineers at Gorrill Palmer, and that they will come back with a new set of designs to present to the town. A date has not yet been set for this presentation
Councilor Anne Marie Poitras shared a public comment about transportation in Van Buren from a Limestone resident who regularly transports her child to town.
“She was wondering about a raised crosswalk at the school,” Poitras said, “because she can’t count how many times she’s been waiting to turn when a tractor trailer is coming up the hill and almost hits the kids crossing.”
Dyer said engineers are hoping to create a bottleneck at the bottom of a hill in this area with the intent of slowing traffic and preventing this type of accident from occurring.
A $2.2 million congressionally directed spending request for a new fire station in town is also moving forward. Dyer said in January that the fire station will be one of Van Buren’s most significant projects of 2024. It will replace the existing station, which was built in 1972, with a 105-foot by 120-foot facility that includes four truck bays, an office area, a conference room, kitchen, mechanical area, and storage area.
The total price is estimated at $2.8 million. If additional grant funding can’t be obtained, then the town would need to cover the remaining amount.
Dyer said everything asked of the town has been submitted, and that now it is just a matter of waiting to hear if the request is approved.
The town is also planning another Community Heart & Soul meeting next month. A date and location have not been determined, however Dyer said it will be on a Saturday.
Community Heart & Soul is a national program in which towns can make changes based on the feedback of its citizens.
Van Buren received a $10,000 matching grant from Community Heart & Soul in late 2023. The town held a community meeting last September which was attended by roughly 40 residents in Van Buren and adjacent communities. This meeting helped identify different individuals and groups in the community so their needs could be addressed.
Dyer said the May meeting will be more of a community discussion.
“It will be about what people love about Van Buren and what they would like to see in Van Buren,” he said. “That will be the focus of it.”
