RANGELEY – Residents will cast their votes for two selectmen and two school board members Tuesday and then meet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday to vote on 60 articles.
The proposed municipal budget is down less than 1 percent from last year at $3,138,994. The school budget is up almost $100,000 from the previous year, increasing to $2,313,606. This does not represent taxpayers’ allocation but rather total proposed school expenditures. An article to borrow $569,774 for school repairs and maintenance is also not included in this budget.
Larger municipal departmental expenditures include general government at $639,634; public safety – police, fire and emergency medical services and animal control – at $474,347; public works, $1,136,465; and county taxes, $366,386. A larger public works departmental budget is due to higher utility and fuel costs. A decrease in public safety is the result of a reduction in the ambulance service contract, according to notes from the town manager on the warrant.
Town Manager Perry Ellsworth anticipates that a few articles will elicit discussion, he said Friday.
An article to borrow $230,000 to purchase two undeveloped lots next to the Chick Hill sewage treatment plant may be controversial, he said. Some people believe enough land was purchased initially to protect the town from problems with a potential homeowner there. The properties abut the field where treated sewer water is sprayed into the air to evaporate, and Ellsworth believes it might pose problems for a homeowner who builds on the adjacent property. Owning the lots would also allow for future expansion, he said.
Both selectmen and the Budget Committee recommend against passing two articles that would garner $25,000 for the Rangeley Lakes Cross Country Ski Club. The club has historically received about $10,000 annually from the town; it’s asking for an additional $15,000 this year to establish a shared-use, multi-season recreation trail system. But town officials think since the trail system is proposed to move up to Dallas Plantation on Saddleback Mountain that the town should not foot the bill.
The article calls the trail system “regionally important.” But Ellsworth said the town recently forgave $13,000 in debt owed by the club, and the organization still owes between $60,000 and $70,000 for a groomer it bought with town money. The club is trying to get a loan to pay for that, Ellsworth said.
A representative from the ski club was unavailable for comment Friday.
Though the budget committee recommends $24,700 for the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce, selectmen recommend $15,500.
Selectmen would like to see the chamber use a funding formula to charge the surrounding plantations – Rangeley, Sandy River and Dallas – similar to that used by the town to levy charges for municipal services to them, said Ellsworth explaining the different funding suggestions.
Tuesday’s voting will be in the town office.
Incumbents Mark Beauregard and Don Nuttall will defend their two seats as selectmen against four challengers: Rob Welch, Larry Gellman, Dennis Marquis and Gary Lanza. Two seats for school board will also see incumbents Pam Ellis and Harold Schaetzle running against Kevin Bliss and Shepard Golub.
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