NEW GLOUCESTER – The contractor hired to rebuild the Bald Hill Road bridge over the Royal River will not be allowed to store equipment at two nearby town properties.

Wyman and Stimson Inc. will have to seek another storage area for gravel, mulch, steel, lumber and cement for the project that is expected to be finished by fall.

The New Gloucester Fairgrounds next to the project site is slated for improvements by the town this summer to benefit area residents, the board said. And, a former landfill capped by an agreement with Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection near the project is under restrictions to safeguard any future contamination.

“Heavy equipment could compromise the cap,” Selectman Steve Chandler said at a meeting Monday night.

“We have a commitment to protect the town’s interest with the DEP and our commitment to the state is greater,” Chandler said.

Town Manager Rosemary Kulow was directed to check with the public works department on space at the Transfer Station in hopes of swapping storage space for work by the contractor to benefit the town.

Selectmen approved transferring $200,000 from the tax increment financing district general ledger account into the fire station capital reserve account. The fund will be used to build a new fire station in the future.

All property tax paid by Pineland by October Corp., the real estate arm of Libra Foundation, is segregated into a separate fund to pay for expensive costs associated with the impact to the town from Pineland’s redevelopment. The TIF was approved several years ago by Maine’s Department of Economic Development and is in its third year. Currently the fund totals roughly $600,000, Kulow said.

Taxpayers have put $80,000 into the reserve, but roughly $600,000 will be needed.

The 30-year TIF is expected to bring $12 million to the fund.

The Fire Department is projecting growth sufficient to provide future ambulance transport. In addition, the purchase of a ladder truck in partnership with area towns may be sought in the next few years.

Selectmen agreed to provide only in-kind help with payroll and workers compensation to the Sabbathday Lake Association’s request but nixed allocating $2,000 to fund the Sabbathday Lake Association Youth Conservation Corps next summer.

Chairman Steve Libby said though the town benefits from the lake, he cannot support a private organization’s request for financial help.

“We do put money at times for private organizations, but my concern is for the lack of public access at the lake.”

The Youth Conservation Corps will be working on storm water runoff plans to divert water carrying pollutants, mainly phosphorus, from entering the lake and the Royal River.

The sum of $10,000 is expected from the McKin Superfund Settlement and $2,000 from the town of Gray. In addition, the project has received $5,000 from the Nine Wicket foundation and $2,000 from the Casco Bay Estuary Project.

The estimated cost to re-establish the summer youth program is $39,220.

The DEP reported in the mid 1990s that Sabbathday Lake’s health would be impacted by future development and the lake was graded to moderately unstable.

Since 1996, the Sabbathday Lake Association in conjunction with Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation received $151,583 in two federal grants under the Clean Water Act. Matching funds contributed by landowners and the town of New Gloucester through supplies and work time totaled $70,500.