The June 9 Standish ballot will include a $441,565 bond question that town officials say will facilitate the conversion of the Cargill lot on the western shore of Sebago Lake into a public beach.

The proposed bond – $397,386 in principal and $44,179 in interest payments – would fund the construction of a 1,200-foot access road from Harmon’s Beach Road and a series of right-of-way acquisitions to enable construction of the access road.

The Cargill lot beach is owned by the Portland Water District and is located in Lower Bay. The town plans to sign a 25-year lease with the district for the beach parcel and enlist the Pentagon’s Innovative Readiness Training labor assistance program in beach infrastructure construction efforts. The lease would cost the town $100 a year.

“We will be purchasing the right of way to get to the Portland Water District property, but we’ll actually be leasing the Portland Water District property for 25 years,” said Councilor Steven Nesbitt. “We’re not actually buying the property.”

No one spoke during a public hearing on the proposed referendum Tuesday night.

According to Town Manager Gordon Billington, officials with the Pentagon program, which uses the National Guard and other military to provide labor, has indicated that it is willing to assist the town with heavy equipment operators, project managers and truck drivers, although nothing has been formalized yet. The program has been effectively used by town officials in Raymond to reduce costs associated with public projects.

“We’ve gotten preliminary indication that they have approved it and we understand it would be a Marine Guard unit,” Billington said.

Town officials hope to begin construction this summer and complete the project by July 2016, according to the Innovative Readiness Training application.

The Cargill lot beach is located just outside the 2-mile, no-bodily-contact limit approaching the water district’s intake pipes. In the past, the water district has expressed preference for a public beach on Sebago Lake’s eastern shore. The water moves counter-clockwise through Lower Bay, so any pollution caused by a beach on the western shore, namely in the form of fecal coliform bacteria, would only have to travel a short distance before reaching the intake pipes.

Under the lease agreement, the parcel under Standish control would also include the sandbar beach area, which is already allowed for use by the district and is a popular boating destination.

According to Billington, $362,386 of the bond principal will be allocated toward construction of the access road and parking lot, while $32,000 will go toward right-of-way acquisitions. Even if the Innovative Readiness Training application is rejected, Billington said, the bond funds would be sufficient to establish the public beach.

“This amount of money will do it if we have to go out and bid for it,” he said. “There’s a good possibility we may not need all of this.”

The beach bond – or Question 3 – is one of five bond questions on the June 9 referendum ballot that, if approved, would lead to $1.62 million in spending, including estimated debt service.

Question 1 would allocate $271,126 in spending toward the purchase of a new ambulance, a new pick-up truck, and fire station renovations.

Question 2 would allocate $52,225 toward renovations at all of the town’s recreational facilities, as well as engineering work aimed at maximizing the use of recently acquired town land for recreational purposes.

Question 4 would allocate $50,403 toward the acquisition of garage column lifts for the public works department.

Question 5 would allocate $808,934 toward road improvements, including Harmon’s Beach Road, Saco Road, and Ossipee Trail.

According to Standish Town Manager Gordon Billington a $441,545 bond question on the June 9 ballot would fund the construction needed to turn the Cargill lot beach into a public beach. Staff photo by Ezra Silk