DURHAM – Spending requests will dominate a longer-than-usual warrant for a special town meeting to be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 27.

Requests will include a 3-year snow removal contract, the purchase of a used emergency vehicle, paying for the replacement of a contaminated well, money for emergency repairs to the Shiloh Road bridge, town office expenses and funds for the Eureka Community building. Also among the 12 articles on the warrant are amendments scheduled to be made to the Comprehensive Plan.

The meeting will be held at the fire station meeting room, 615 Hallowell Road, instead of the usual elementary school gymnasium because of construction at the school.

Despite the 12 articles on the warrant, there are no formal recommendations from the Budget Committee on the spending articles included in the warrant because of the lack of a quorum at the Budget Committee meeting to review the articles, Committee Chairman Allan Purinton said.

The only bidder for the snow removal contract that will run from July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2006, is Larrabee Construction, owned by Road Commssioner Clifton Larrabee Sr. The company has held the contract for many years. His bid calls for plowing just under 71 miles of roads at a cost of $3,030 per mile for the 2003-04 season; $3,225 per mile for 2004-05 and $3,579 per mile for 2005-06.

The total cost for the first year is $215,130. Also included in Larrabee’s bid is a clause calling for the town to remiburse the contractor for gasoline costs in excess of the $1.50 per gallon. Selectmen had originally sought to extend the contract to cover an additional four weeks by beginning two weeks earlier in the fall and lasting two weeks later in the spring, but this was withdrawn when it was determined the town had not appropriated enough money to cover an extra four weeks.

Selectmen are recommending the purchase of a used rescue vehicle from North Yarmouth for the First Responders at a cost of $2,500. Selectmen recommend using $1,300 from the Fire Department account and appropriating $1,200 from the Department’s capital improvement reserve account for the purchase. The ambulance is an aluminum box-type vehicle with 56,000 miles and it will be necessary to replace a rocker panel, repair the front end and re-letter it. The current emergency vehicle used by the First Responders has more than 300,000 miles on it and is in need of $1,250 in repairs, according to Fire Chief Bill St. Michel.

Another article recommended for approval asks voters to appropriate $4,050 from the unappropiated fund balance for the cost of replacing a residential salt-contaminated well.

Selectmen also recommend transferring $8,500 from the bridge reserve account to pay for emergency repairs to the Shiloh Road bridge; appropriate $1,575 from the capital reserve account and $1,862 from the unappropriated fund balance for a total of $3,437 for the office expense account; and to appropriate $750 to be used for the operations of the Durham Eureka Community Center.

Voters will also be asked to amend the Comprehensive Plan adopted at the March 2002 town meeting as proposed by the Comprehensive Plan Committee and another article to establish “Districts for the Town of Durham.”

Recommended changes include provisions to allow pre-existing approved subdivisions to be completed and building permits issued for approved lots in a timely manner, which was not addressed in the Comprehansive Plan when it was approved.

A petitioned article submitted by local realtor Gary Lord asks voters to amend the Comprehensive Plan to increase the size of the growth zone described as Dyer Brook (originally part of Southwest Bend) to encompass the area from Plummer Mill Road by adding the following “the intersection of the north side of the Old Brunswick Road … turning west along the north side of the Old Brunswick Road until its intersection with the east side of Royalsborough Road, then turning north along the east side of that road.” This would add all or parts of tax map lot numbers 80, 108, 110, 113, 113A, 113B, 113C, 11lD, 113E and 113F to the growth zone, which allows for smaller-sized lots.

Copies of the warrant and ordinance changes are available at the town office.

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