WASHBURN, Maine — The town of Washburn has approved an LED street light replacement project and is preparing for a new a stormwater drainage project that will start work in the spring.
At a special town meeting Feb. 11, town voters approved an authorization for the council to enter into a loan agreement of $54,778 to buy LED lights for the town’s street light system.
Washburn is among a group of municipalities in the region making the conversion to LED streetlights as part of an effort spearheaded through the Aroostook Municipal Association.
Washburn is paying for the conversion with a five-year loan, but the money is coming from existing streetlight funds and the energy efficient LEDs will save the town money, said town manager Donna Turner.
“We’re paying that out of the line we normally would have been paying for our lights,” Turner said, adding the town’s annual streetlight budget is about $23,000.
The street light system spans about 110 lights on Main Street, side streets and parts of the village of Crouseville, Turner said. The conversion is on track to be complete within the next two months with the contractor, RealTerm Energy, she added.
Washburn also is getting ready for an infrastructure project scheduled to start this spring — a new stormwater drainage system being designed for a 250 acre area of farmland uphill from the area around the town’s center.
The project will see a stormwater drainage system installed from the fields downhill to Salmon Brook, and should reduce spring flooding potential on Main Street and various side streets around it, Turner said.
“Instead of the water from fields flowing down to people’s backyards, there will be a storm drainage system in place.”
The project will cost $500,000 in total, with $388,000 coming from the Community Development Block Grant program, $70,000 from the Department of Transportation and about $45,000 from the town, Turner said. B.R. Smith Associates has been hired as the lead engineering firm.
Washburn also is preparing its next fiscal year budget and will be conducting a revaluation of property this year, the town manager said.
The town’s proposed budget is down by $11,000 compared to last year, largely due to an elimination of solid waste costs for the town, Turner said.
The municipal budget will go before voters at the town meeting beginning at 7 p.m. March 19, but the tax rate will not be finalized until the MSAD 45 school district sets its rate in June, Turner said.
