There are three candidates for two open seats on the Fort Fairfield Town Council on Nov. 8, and two them will be coming onto the council as the town government is hitting a steady rhythm under a relatively new town manager.
As Fort Fairfield town manager Jim Risner works on the town’s 2017-18 fiscal year budget, voters in town will be electing two new members to the town council. On the ballot are Mitchell Butler, Melissa Libby and Robert E. Kilcollins, a current councillor seeking re-election, while council chair David McCrea is leaving his seat and seeking election to the state legislature.
Butler, a former law enforcement professional, is also a former town councillor. Melissa Libby is an account manager with United Insurance in Fort Fairfield, and Robert Kilcollins runs Bob’s Service and Repair.
At the town council’s last meeting before those elections, Risner gave an update on a number of pursuits that town staff have been working on.
For more than year, the town has been looking to replace a pedestrian bridge over Pattee Brook, which washed out a popular trail crossing in flooding.
The town was planning on seeking grant funding for an estimated $40,000 replacement, and expecting to contribute to that cost, as many grants require municipalities to share in the cot of a project.
At a recent Maine state surplus auction, though, public works director Darren Hanson spotted an aluminum bridge that can be removed during winter for $2,500, and with authorization bid on and acquired the bridge.
“This is a good example of staff working together, looking out for ways to save the taxpayers,” Risner said.
In other news, Fort Fairfield’s Police Department is receiving five-bullet proof vests with a 50 percent cost-sharing grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The council approved spending $1,250 out of the police reserve to pay for the town’s share.
The town is also applying for a number of grant-funded equipment for the Fire Department for next year, one of which requires a 5 percent match by the town and the other a 50 percent match.
The total cost to the town would be about $28,400 for a vehicle tanker acquisition, along with 13 breathing apparatuses, 15 personal protective sets and a thermal imaging camera, Risner noted.
