Special Town Meeting

Over 100 New Gloucester residents attended a special town meeting Jan. 30 at the Memorial School Gymnasium. The first of two topics addressed was to ask if Briarwood Drive would be accepted as a town way. This article had been rejected at the May annual town meeting because not all of the town road standards had been met at that time. Subsequently, the work was completed and the article passed easily. Resident Jim Fitch suggested that if a subdivision road is built with the expectation of being accepted as a town way in the future, the town should hire an independent inspector to monitor the construction of the road as it progresses at the developer’s expense.

As expected, discussion of the funding for the new fire station comprised the lion’s share of the two-hour meeting. None of the speakers said that they were opposed to the building of the fire station. The crux of the controversy was deriving the additional funds needed to complete the $2.3 million project after revenues from the capital reserve account and special revenue accounts designated for fire-rescue were tapped.

To Bond or Not to Bond?

The funding mechanism within the article was a 10-year bond with a principal of $1.4 million plus interest of $340,000. Roger Levasseur offered an amendment to remove the bond portion of the article. His intention was to have the $1.4 million come out of the town’s $5 million undesignated fund balance. The moderator ruled that this amendment would greatly change the scope of the article as written, so a future special town meeting would be needed to consider using the undesignated fund balance as the funding source.

Levasseur also reminded the audience that taxpayers will be starting to be billed for the $10 million school renovation bond and if School Administrative District 15 were to consolidate with School Union 29, an estimated $1.5 million cost may have to be borne by Gray and New Gloucester taxpayers. Richard Cadigan who is a minority member of the budget committee reported that nearly everyone he had talked to has objected to bonding.

Jim Giffune who advocated for bonding countered that interest rates are presently low, especially when borrowing against a facility as solid collateral. Other stated arguments to support bonding included that this approach would reduce fluctuations in the town’s financial base, the CPA firm of Smith & Associates has recommended that a substantial amount be maintained in the undesignated fund balance for stability, and the interest income derived from the undesignated fund balance has been steadily declining.

The Outcome

Voting at the special town meeting was done by secret ballot. The amendment that removed the bonding portion of the article failed 68-36. The article which included funding via the 10-year bond passed 84-25.

The special town meeting is being replayed on cable TV Channel 3 at 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Environmental Footnotes

My hope is that the fire station committee will implement green technology wherever practical into the new fire station design. Incorporating environmentally responsible building materials and features often costs no more than conventional practice, indeed sometimes it costs even less. LED lighting, Energy Star appliances, low-flow toilets and other energy efficient features would save taxpayer dollars with an additional upside of preserving the environment.

A fire station in Missoula, Montana installed solar panels to partially meet its energy needs. The city of Phoenix, Ariz., Fire Station Number 50 installed small skylights to illuminate dark corners so that lights only needed to be turned on at night.

Hopefully tree-cutting in the area where the new fire station is to be sited would be kept to a minimum, and some of the timber could be milled into boards to be used in construction. When the time comes for landscaping, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension could be consulted to make recommendations for sustainable landscaping including Maine-friendly plant selection. Strategically-placed groundcover could lessen rainwater runoff to control erosion. Lawns should be limited or avoided altogether, both from a low maintenance and a chemical-free perspective.

The fire station committee is no doubt considering low-cost green design and construction practices in regard to where to site the building, energy systems, materials, and landscaping. Committee members welcome your input on any ideas you may have for the construction of the new fire station, call 926-4142 or e-mail ngfr@maine.rr.com.

Town Meetings

Saturday, Feb. 9: Cabin Fever Book & Bake Sale, 9 a.m., Library

Sunday, Feb. 10: Democratic Caucus, 2:30 p.m., Congregational Church vestry

Monday, Feb. 11: Selectmen budget workshop, 7 p.m., Meetinghouse

Monday, Feb. 11: Library Trustees, 7 p.m., Library

Wednesday, Feb. 13: Cable TV, 7 p.m., Meetinghouse

Wednesday, Feb. 13: Arts & Creative Economy, 7 p.m., Library

Thursday, Feb. 14: Parks & Rec, 7 p.m., Meetinghouse

Thursday, Feb. 14: Arts & Creative Economy, 7 p.m., Fire Station

Friday, Feb. 15: Story Time, 9:30 a.m., Library

Intervale Road resident Jim Fitch, right, quizzes moderator Don Libby on a point of order at the Jan. 30 special town meeting.