Whether Limestone should first purchase a plow truck or a building to put it in dominated Select Board meeting discussion Tuesday.
The town’s budget committee presented its first round of recommendations for the board on budget items which were originally slated for public vote on Nov. 22. The town postponed that meeting due to the Thanksgiving holiday, to allow more residents to take part.
Article 6 asked voters to authorize the town to spend up to $260,000 from public works reserves on a new plow truck. Town officials said a new vehicle is needed because the current truck is in bad repair, requiring highway staff to spend hours each day trying to fix it. Budget committee spokesperson Chuck Kelley said the group doesn’t favor a new truck until there’s a building to keep it in.
“We want to see a five-year plan before we even consider buying a truck,” Kelley said. “We need a building to keep the trucks in working order so we don’t have to keep buying.”
The committee urged the town to consider building a highway facility first and buying a new truck the next year.
Board member Irma LaBreck acknowledged the highway team can fix the truck, but questioned the wisdom of fixing it without a building.
Board chair Randy Brooker and board member Chris Durepo maintained with winter coming, a plow truck is the town’s most immediate need.
“”Right now, we have a highway department that has nothing to drive,” Brooker said. “All they’ve been doing is welding and patching to get the equipment ready for winter.”
Brooker suggested the budget group examine the plow vehicle to better understand the urgency.
Warrant article 3 involves taking up to $54,000 from a town-owned CD to pay back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.
The IRS notified Limestone last month it needed to pay $52,007 by Nov. 3. Interim Town Manager Alan Mulherin said he would ask for an extension, and residents were to vote on the item Nov. 22. A date has not yet been set for the rescheduled special town meeting.
The budget committee opposed taking the money from the CD and wants the town to examine other ways to fund the payment, such as the operations budget, Kelley said.
The town doesn’t have any other options, Brooker said. If the funds didn’t come from the CD, the item would need to be acted on at a town meeting to appropriate the funds, and taxes would likely rise.
The budget committee agreed to meet at a later time with the select board to discuss the budget items and recommendations in detail.
Whenever the special town meeting takes place, residents will also vote to: spend $275,000 to finalize the town’s solar project, spend $17,000 to upgrade tax software, transfer $50,000 from the undesignated fund balance to a tax revaluation fund, establish a new food sovereignty ordinance, and let the town sell or lease Trafton Lake Campground.
The town-owned campground has lost money, and this summer Limestone officials suggested having someone take it over who can run and grow the venue. So far one person has made an offer, but on advice from its lawyer the town did not accept that offer, Mulherin said.
The board took no action and further discussion was postponed until an executive session could be scheduled.
In other business, Mulherin asked if the town wanted to craft a policy on whether to allow more non-profit organizations to use the town’s phone and copy services.
The town provides those services and an office for the Limestone Chamber of Commerce and Limestone Development Foundation, closely related volunteer groups.
Chamber President Michelle Albert and Vice President Jo-Anne Kelly said obtaining those services is vital for all their activities.
The board agreed to continue with the arrangement, but did not take action on an expanded policy.
