DURHAM – The creation of a town-run public works department and the purchase of a used fire truck are the two big-ticket warrant articles Durham residents will decide during their annual town meeting Saturday, April 6, starting at 9 a.m. at the Durham Community School.

The meeting kicks off on Friday with a municipal election to choose two town selectman, three budget committee members, and a Regional School Unit 5 board member, all three-year terms. Incumbents Deb Larrabee and board Chairman Jeff Wakeman are running unopposed after local contractor Benjamin Love dropped out of the race late last week. Michelle Ritcheson is the sole candidate listed on the ballot for the school board, and Kevin Nadeau is the single resident seeking a seat on the budget committee.

The total proposed 2013 municipal budget for Durham would result in a 2.15 percent increase in spending from the previous fiscal year and an increase of 15 cents per $1,000 in the property tax rate for its 4,000 residents. As written, this year’s budget has been pegged at $2,642,881, an increase of $55,726 from 2012, which also includes the cost of a $8,221 hike in county taxes.

According to a feasibility study, a full-time public works department would save money over the long term and allow direct control over such projects as plowing, culvert replacement, gravel road maintenance and brush and tree work-projects now performed by outside contractors.

Durham Administrative Assistant Janet Smith said the idea for a town-run public works department has been considered before, but has gained significant momentum this past year.

“To be honest, it’s about the roads,” said Smith in February, referring to the pothole-riddled and frost-heaved thoroughfares that the town is known for. “When you look at the overall roads budget and what you’re spending in the winter, it’s a huge amount of money for such a short period of time. It doesn’t leave you a whole lot of wiggle room for the rest of the year other than to put Band-Aids on small sections of road.”

Under the proposed plan outlined in Article 26 of the warrant, the town would go from having a shared road commissioner and two part-time employees to having a road commissioner, a working foreman, a mechanic/equipment operator, a second equipment operator, two truck drivers/laborers and four part-time seasonal plow operators. If approved, the public works department would be up and running ahead of the next snow plowing contract in 2014.

According to the feasibility report, Durham is budgeted to spend about $1.2 million on public works-related projects, including $706,000 for plowing in 2012-2013.

Due to the initial cost of starting a full-blown public works department, the town would not see any immediate savings, said Smith.

“We’re basing our numbers on a Cadillac version of the plan, which is to say purchasing new equipment because those are known and concrete numbers. The cost of used equipment depends on when you are actually going to purchase them, it fluctuates,” said Smith.

The committee is recommending the town buy six plow-equipped dump trucks, two 1-ton trucks, a loader/backhoe, an excavator and a 20-ton equipment trailer. The estimated equipment cost comes in at $1.4 million for new equipment.

The town has two part-time employees who handle road maintenance, and Scott Bennett shares the road commissioner position with both Durham and Pownal. Durham’s part-time employees handle patching potholes, repairing and replacing road signs, roadside mowing and other similar tasks.

If residents choose to purchase the estimated $1.4 million in new equipment, the cost to taxpayers would be roughly $164,000 a year through a 10-year bond.

As proposed and pending approval from residents, the 2014 municipal budget has a 3 percent increase in the operating budget and a 5 percent increase in plowing expenses, for a total of $1.3 million.

The committee has recommended the town purchase 10 acres of land to build a 6,000-square-foot facility to house a public works facility.

“There has been speculation and rumors about where this might go but again it’s up to the steering committee when and if the town votes for it,” Smith said.

The committee pegged the overall cost of a town-operated public works budget, including loan payments, at $1.2 million. This would represent a savings of roughly $2,000 from the 2012-2013 budget, but jump to an estimated $71,000 when the increased estimates for the 2014-2015 plowing contracts are factored in.

“We realize the roads need work and we thought it was in the best interest of the town to have a long term solution,” said Jeff Wakeman, chairman of the Durham Board of Selectmen.

Bennett, a member of the Public Works Feasibility Committee, thinks a town-run public works department will address many of the basic problems plaguing the roads and allow for flexibility with future projects. He acknowledged the cost may seem prohibitive but feels it’s the best solution available.

“We have tried to get the information out so people can make informed decisions,” he said. “I am highly in favor of a town-controlled public works department. I see how much work needs to be done and I believe the most efficient way to properly handle the jobs is to do it yourself. The big dollar number appears scary, but the bottom line is that we will be spending the same amount of money and potentially less after the first year. I thinks that’s the big picture and what people need to understand. Your taxes are not going to go up because of this. It’s spread out through a bond.”

This proposed budget request for road maintenance contains an additional $22,000 to cover the added cost of repairing areas designated as problematic.

“It’s a hefty chunk of change,” said Wakeman. “It’s really additional money to save the roads. There’s no specific project but we do have a long list in mind. Unfortunately we do not have the resources to do it all.”

Wakeman identified the condition of Runaround Pond Road as especially troublesome.

“As with most town roads in Maine, it was once dirt and then covered with tar without addressing the underlying structural issues,” he said. “We haven’t put it out to bid, but I think peoples jaws will drop when they see what it costs.”

Article 17 of the 39-article warrant asks residents to authorize $240,000 to purchase a used ladder truck to replace an aging vehicle for the fire department. If approved, the cost would be absorbed through a six-year bond.

Budget proposals include a $13,586 increase in funding for the fire and rescue departments to cover the cost of responding to a high number of structure fires in 2012, said Smith.

“Unfortunately we had more structure fires last year, which caused that particular line of the budget to go over,” said Smith. “Sometimes it’s not so much how many calls the fire and rescue go on, but the length of those calls. With house fires, you need more personnel to respond and for a longer period of time.”

The town will see a slight decrease in the cost of emergency dispatch services after entering into a contract with the town of Lisbon, a switch from a previous contract with Androscoggin County. The savings comes from the elimination of a special line, also known as a radio loop, that the town now must use with the county because the radio frequencies used by Durham are too close to those used by the county.

Other increases in the proposed 2013 budget include $1,920 for personnel administration, $5,288 in solid waste removal, $1,250 for assessing, and $2,232 for the Planning Board.

Overall, Smith said, the proposed budget contains no hidden expenditures.

“The budget is what is. Both the select board and budget committee worked very hard to do the best for taxpayers without jeopardizing the fiscal well-being of the town,” said Smith.

Wakeman said this was the first year he could remember where the budget committee and board of selectmen were in agreement about the budget proposals.

“We tried very hard to hold the line with spending and taxes,” Wakeman said. “It’s a process, but hopefully we did our best for the town.

However, Durham is also facing a hike in property tax rates due to a proposed $25,632,994 Regional School Unit 5 budget which, if approved by tri-town residents through a budget validation referendum June 11, would result in a nearly 8 percent hike in property tax.