FREEPORT – The first draft of a 2014-15 capital expenses budget – at nearly $2.7 million, a significant increase from this year – was scheduled to be presented to the Freeport Town Council on Tuesday night by Town Manager Peter Joseph.
Joseph and Abbe Yacoben, the town’s finance director, huddled last Thursday night to put the finishing touches on the administration’s proposal. On Tuesday, after the Tri-Town Weekly’s deadline, they presented a $2,662,100 plan for capital expenses, compared to last year’s $945,100 appropriation.
Joseph pointed out prior to Tuesday night’s meeting that half the cost of a proposed $1 million reconstruction of Wardtown Road will come from the State Municipal Parternership Initiative Program, in which the Department of Transportation allows municipalities to add to the scope of an existing state project, according to the department’s website. A figure of $500,000 has been proposed for the town. The town also proposes to add paved shoulders to Wardtown Road. This separate project would be locally funded, Joseph said, and is estimated to cost $300,000.
Al Presgraves, town engineer, said Monday that he supports the shouldering work on the road.
“That’s a separate item on the capital budget because that’s going to be 100 percent town-funded,” Presgraves said.
In addition, the town proposes to replace two ambulances, totaling $372,000. Normally, Joseph said, one ambulance would be funded per fiscal year.
Fire Chief Darrel Fournier said Monday that the town should eventually save money by purchasing both ambulances at once, because the ambulances go up in price about 6 percent a year.
The town has a joint agreement with five other communities for the purchase of ambulances, Fournier said. The six towns have used their buying power to purchase 18 ambulances in the past five years, he said.
Fournier said that the Rescue 3 ambulance is a 2001 model with 230,000 miles and needs to be replaced soon. The 2005 Rescue 2 model has 135,000 miles, he said.
The town also proposes to work with the state Department of Environmental Protection on closure of the remaining active landfill, at a cost of $150,000. Presgraves said that the state Department of Environmental Protection wanted the landfill, located near the end of Hedgehog Mountain Road, closed several years ago.
“It’s getting close to its capacity,” he said. “It will reduce environmental impacts to put a cover on the landfill.”
Presgraves said that the town sends most of its solid waste to Portland, but some demolition debris still goes to the landfill.
“It’s just been a money-saving thing keeping it open,” he said. “The town’s been saving $10,000 to $15,000 a year not closing it. They don’t really need it from an operational standpoint.”
Among some other noteworthy proposed increases in the 2015 capital budget, according to a budget document on the town website, are, in the police department, two new squad cars, equipment and replacement of bullet-proof vests in the police department, at a cost of $86,000, compared to $25,000 in this year’s spending plan; in municipal facilities, insulation of the attic at the public safety building, LED lighting outside the library, public works and town hall, computer upgrades, and a public safety camera system at a cost of $231,500, compared to $133,000 this year.
The Town Council has scheduled a public hearing for the capital budget on April 1. Adoption of a plan is scheduled for April 15.
On May 1, Joseph will present to the council a preliminary proposal for the 2015 operating, capital and tax-increment financing budget. June 17 is the target date for adoption of a new operating budget.
Meanwhile, the Town Council, as expected, passed an order Feb. 25 to accept a $12,000 donation from Freeport Housing Trust, which will establish the Freeport Emergency Rental Assistance Fund.
Freeport Housing Trust, which provides affordable housing to lower- and moderate-income households, proposed the program for a trial period in 2014. The Town Council will review it in September, to determine if the Housing Trust and the town want to make a longer-term commitment.
Council Chairman James Hendricks briefed the council on the fund prior to the vote.
“This is intended to be an emergency fund for renters, or low-income renters, to prevent them from becoming homeless,” Hendricks said.
Johanna Hanselman, general assistance administrator for the town, will administer the fund for the town. Assistance will be limited to $4,000 for four months, and people receiving the assistance must report to Hanselman monthly. They also must dedicate at least 30 percent of their income to rent.
Councilor Melanie Sachs, executive director of Freeport Community Services, said during the meeting that she often sees people who are on the cusp of losing their rentals. Sachs credited Freeport Housing Trust for its “extraordinary generosity.”
“This is an amazing collaboration,” Sachs said. “This will help keep people off the streets, truly.”
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