Board: Mechanic Falls Council

Met: Monday night

Tax rate

The scoop: The council set the property tax rate for fiscal 2009 at $18.30 per $1,000 of value. Town Manager John Hawley noted that the rate is down slightly from the $18.90 per $1,000 that has held steady for the past three years.

Special town meeting

The scoop: This spring, at the order of the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Elm Street school’s 4,000-gallon underground oil tank was removed because its inner wet wall had failed. A new tank was installed for $38,110. Money earmarked for replacing doors and windows at the school was used to deal with the emergency. Monday night, the council agreed to hold a special town meeting to replenish the school’s capital improvement fund with money from the school’s fiscal 2008 fund balance.

Up next: The special town meeting will be held in the Municipal Building at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2, just prior to the council’s regular business meeting.

User fees

The scoop: In response to increases in heat and utility costs, the council discontinued the policy of free use of the municipal gym and approved a fee schedule that offsets a portion of the town’s costs. Councilors also amended the fee schedule for requests for copies of public records to set rates for extensive research or labor costs associated with requests. Details on the new fee schedules are available at the town office.

Planning Board

Issue: The Planning Board consists of five regular voting members and up to two alternate members who may be called as needed. The council is responsible for filling vacancies.

The scoop: The council accepted the resignation of Todd Walton and removed James DePalma, who moved out of town, from the board. To bring the board to full strength, the council appointed Paul Conklin Jr., Paula Stotts and John Straight as regular voting members and Matthew Bergmann and A. John Hyman as alternate members.

– Winslow Durgin