LIVERMORE FALLS – Selectmen hope voters at Wednesday’s town meeting will agree to give responsibility for trash disposal and emergency dispatch services to other municipalities, says Town Manager Martin Puckett.
Puckett explained last week the move is an attempt to lower the town’s mill rate, now 24.5 or $24.50 per $1,000 of assessed value.
If residents vote to close Livermore Falls’ transfer station and dispatch service, the mill rate fall to about 23.5, even though the municipal budget is up 2.2 percent.
The town has plans to enter into an agreement with Jay’s transfer station, Puckett said. Under the plan, “our facility will no longer be open – residents will have to take their solid waste to Jay.”
The move is expected to save taxpayers nearly $60,000.
For dispatch, Puckett said selectmen hope to contract with Androscoggin and Jay dispatch, for a savings of nearly $160,000.
Puckett said the 2006 budget “represents a huge step toward fiscal responsibility” in 2006. In the past, he explained, “we have not been funding our capital improvement” accounts well enough, and town infrastructure has suffered. But this year, besides lowering the mill rate, selectmen hope residents will vote to “adequately fund capital improvements.”
Voters also will be asked to allow the town to donate land for a paper heritage museum, says Town Clerk Kristal Flagg. “It’s kind of neat – kind of different,” Flagg said.
The meeting is set to begin at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 14, at the Norland Grange in East Livermore. Voting will take place from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 13, at the fire station on Park Street, Flagg said.
Incumbent Russell Flagg is running unopposed for a three-year selectman’s term that includes an assessor’s position. Two people are running for former Chairman Kenny Jakes’ two-year selectman-and-assessor position. Jaqueline Knight and Scott Roberts are vying for that position, Flagg said.
Flagg is running unopposed for re-election as town clerk and treasurer. She has held the posts for 17 years.
There are also four school board positions open. Incumbents Malcolm Haynes and Frederick Nadeau are running for two three-year terms, and Lorie Morris and Anne Souther are running for two one-year terms, Flagg said.
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