LIVERMORE FALLS – No objections were raised Monday night during a brief hearing on accepting a $10,000 planning grant recently awarded to the town.

Town Manager Alan Gove explained this was one of the steps needed to comply with grant regulations.

A second step will be taken by the Planning Board on May 21 when it holds a public hearing to verify that the study, for which the grant will be used, coincides with provisions of the Comprehensive Plan.

A third requirement is the establishment of a Citizen Advisory Committee. Anyone interested in being on that committee should contact the town office.

Another hearing was announced by SAD 36 Superintendent Terry Despres as he delivered copies of warrants for the referendum ballot on June 10.

The public hearing on the budget will be May 29, and the warrants will be posted June 3, he said. Absentee ballots will be available by May 27.

Despres said the town’s portion of the $7.8 million 2003-04 budget will be $1,855,771.40, a $65,663.31 reduction from this year’s assessment.

“I feel good coming to you and actually requesting less,” he told the selectmen. He credited his directors with supporting the cutbacks. Despres discussed two of the articles, 13 and 14, which seek permission to spend $52,400 in undesignated reserve and to transfer $150,000 from undesignated surplus to a designated reserve for construction/technology expenditures.

He said the first transfer would give the board a cushion in case the state cuts back and doesn’t pay the promised bills.

“It’s a very precarious tightrope the state seems to be walking,” he commented on education funding.

The second transfer would allow the district to prepare for repairs to the high school roof and cowl walls, using state revolving funds. Estimates are now being sought from engineers for the work that is probably a year away, he said. The reserve will also allow completion of the current project, renovation of the former grammar school.

Officials agreed that the joint meetings held by the district and selectpersons from the two towns have been beneficial. “The three bodies voted by the public worked together,” Despres said.

“It’s been eye-opening, we got answers to questions right there. It’s the first school budget that Clayton Putnam (selectman) hasn’t objected to,” replied Chairman Bill Demaray.

The board agreed to have the replacement electrical service to the library take an overhead route from near the post office, rather than to go underground like the original one that just failed.

The cost will be $2,750 as opposed to $3,500 plus trenching and backfilling. In addition, if the state moves the pole from which the underground service stems, the town would have to re-invest, Gove said.

No more work will be done on the library for awhile, the manager explained, because the trust fund, which pays for it, is down due to market conditions.