ST. ALBANS — Voters will be asked at Saturday’s Town Meeting to approve a $1.13 million town budget, an $82,148 increase from last year’s spending plan.
The meeting with be held at 9 a.m. at Town Hall. Polls will be open for municipal elections and referendums from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, also at Town Hall.
Most of the budget increases will go toward previously approved costs, said town manager Rhonda Starks, including $30,000 for a new bond payment for the town’s sand-and-salt shed and nearly $29,000 for a lease payment for the new E-1 firetruck. Additional increases include a $4,000 request to buy a new dock for the public lake, $4,500 toward road work and approximately $3,600 in insurance costs.
Other warrant articles under consideration include $172,002 for administration costs, $98,265 for the Mid Maine Solid Waste and Recycling contract, a more than $3,400 increase from last year’s budget, and $58,051 for the Fire Department. The town also will ask voters to weigh in on next year’s contribution to the Hartland Library. Typically, St. Albans contributes $5,000 to the library, but the selectmen have recommended $3,000 this year in an attempt to cut costs. The Budget Committee has recommended maintaining support at the current level.
In the election, Todd Brown is running unopposed for a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen. He will replace Jason Gould, who is stepping down as chairman after six years on the board. Joyce Weymouth is running for another three-year term on the Budget Committee.
Stacey Desrosiers is seeking another term as town clerk. Steve W. Emery and Paul J. Reynolds, of Hartland, are running against Brady Snowman, of St. Albans, to replace longtime road commissioner Ronnie Finson, who is retiring after 32 years in the role.
Both the town clerk and the road commissioner are elected to one-year terms. That could change if residents vote yes on Friday on referendum questions 1 and 2, which seek to shift the roles from elective to appointive positions, starting in 2018. Starks said the change would make it easier to remove someone accused of wrongdoing from office.
“With everything going on in this day and age, we feel it would be better to have it as an appointed position so we could have more oversight of that position,” Starks said. “As an elected official, they can’t even really be reprimanded other than to be voted out of office.”
The change was proposed previously around five years ago, Starks said, but was voted down, as residents did not see any concerns with the longtime commissioner or clerk. Now that Finson has stepped down, Starks said, it felt like an appropriate time to raise the issue again.
Additionally, residents will have an opportunity to vote on referendum question 3, a proposed ordinance that would prohibit retail marijuana establishments or social clubs. St. Albans voters rejected legalization of marijuana by a wide margin on the November ballot.
On Saturday, voters also will be asked to approve the town’s updated comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan committee worked on the plan for the past two years, and it already has received approval from the selectmen and the state, Starks said.
Kate McCormick — 861-9218
kmccormick@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @KateRMcCormick
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