FORT KENT, Maine – Town officials on Monday approved borrowing back $135,000 to help fund a water main replacement project on Pleasant Street.
Town Manager Suzie Paradis said the town previously held a special meeting to ask for $500,000 from the bank to help fund the project. She said the town paid back $135,000 of this, but that they were supposed to keep it revolving within the town. The town held the special meeting Monday to approve going to the bank to borrow back the money, allowing them to pay the contractors.
“It was basically part of the original project, but we paid it off and we shouldn’t have because we are going to go out to get a municipal bond sometime in March,” she said.
The project is valued at $2.4 million. Pleasant Street contains numerous facilities, including Fort Kent’s elementary and high school, the University of Maine at Fort Kent, and a preschool and adult learning center.
The project was awarded to Deveau Construction, who bid roughly $1,475,000. The remainder of the $2.4 million covered materials and engineering costs. Much of the project was funded via American Rescue Plan Act funds, and a $1 million grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission.
Paradis said earlier this year that the lines under the road are over half a century old, and that the town has been considering repairs for several years.
The town council also approved authorizing up to $3,296 for the emergency replacement of the radiator in a town-owned payloader. Public Works Director Tony Theriault said the department’s budget should cover these costs. Paradis added a provision to the motion that, if the department could not cover all the costs, the remainder could be taken out of the town reserves.
