BETHEL – In anticipation of taxes, selectmen at Monday night’s meeting authorized borrowing up to $800,000 in a line of credit from Key Bank.

Town Manager Scott Cole said Tuesday that the credit line, at 2.83 percent fixed interest, would remain active until June 10, 2005.

In other business, the board also authorized a $293,000 contract with Swayse Excavation to stabilize the Androscoggin River bank at Davis Park.

Cole said selectmen OK’d the contract with a contingency that they receive a written confirmation of federal funding for the project from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Special town meeting voters last month authorized selectmen to accept an estimated $303,983 grant from FEMA for the estimated $405,310 project to correct last winter’s flood damage at the park, and to replace a sewer outfall pipe at the same location that washed away.

Once confirmation is received, Cole said construction could begin.

Regarding a proposal to reorganize the Airport Authority, selectmen made no formal resolutions Monday night. Instead, they offered potential ideas.

Those ideas are to be discussed at the authority’s meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3, in the town office.

Among the many ideas are:

• Renaming the group as the Airport Advisory Panel.

• Requiring panelists to be registered Bethel voters.

• Giving the panel the authority to authorize expenditures in a manner identical to selectmen, with a $3,500 bid threshold.

• Maintaining a double approval process for leases, and a review process for elimination of double approval on certain expenditures or agreements.

• Requiring selectmen to approve the annual Bethel Regional Airport budget.

• Requiring grant acceptances exceeding $25,000 to be approved at town meeting.

The board also OK’d five shoreland zoning map amendments, which loosened restrictions to help affected property owners, Cole said.

The matter is expected to go before voters for final approval in a special town meeting to be held next spring.