LIVERMORE FALLS – A special town meeting has been scheduled for May to consider accepting a $150,000 grant, settle overdrafts and put more money in the public works account.

The town meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 12, at the town office, prior to the regular selectmen’s meeting.

Voters will be asked to accept the $150,000 community enterprise grant that the town was awarded. The money from the Maine Community Development Block program will be used to help businesses improve building facades.

For every dollar given to a business, the business must contribute $1.

Already, nearly 20 businesses have expressed interest in applying for a grant, Town Manager Martin Puckett said Thursday, with most indicating they want to go for the maximum $25,000 allowed.

Another warrant article at the special meeting will ask voters to transfer $30,000 from the unappropriated surplus account to the public works account.

The town auditor said in March that the town had about $1 million in the undesignated account.

The public works account has about $20,000 left in it, Puckett said, and more money needs to be appropriated so the department can operate through June.

Higher fuel costs and more snowstorms than normal depleted the money in the account.

There are also overdrafts of $9,017 that need funds appropriated, Puckett said.

Most of that – $5,601 – is due to overruns in the buildings account, he said.

The backup generator at the town office went down and needs to be repaired, and an electrical conversion switch installed, he said. There were also furnace repairs done at the fire station.

The administration account overdraft is $3,416, which is due to more liens filed compared to last year. In addition, the fee nearly doubled from $7 to $13, which will be reimbursed to the town when the lien is paid. However, that will go into the general fund, Puckett said.

Another added expense, he said, is that the town now has to include a self-addressed stamped envelope in the paperwork.