CHESTERVILLE — A proposed project to build a bypass road around a section of George Thomas Road that collapsed into the Sandy River last May is expected to cost more than $300,000.

On Monday, voters at the annual town meeting will consider raising $10,000 as a local match for a federal grant that would complete the project.

If the grant is approved this spring by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the town would be able to purchase a small plot of woodland where a 1,200 foot bypass road would be constructed, connecting George Thomas Road with nearby Route 41 just south of the Farmington Falls town line.

The town meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, March 14, at the Chesterville Town Hall.

Voters will consider raising $445,954 from property tax for the proposed municipal operating budget for 2011, which is about $20,000 more than was raised in 2010, Town Clerk Pat Gordon said.

First Selectman David Archer said the road project on George Thomas Road has been a major concern for the town since the cave-in occurred May 7. Engineers have said the collapse was triggered by erosion and the pressure of groundwater building up in the poor soil under the road. The alternative of rebuilding the road would cost in excess of $700,000.

The less expensive, bypass road would skirt around the unstable section of roadway. The existing road is limited now to one lane of traffic and there are no plans to rebuild it, officials said.

The FEMA grant requires a 25 percent local match, which can include the town’s labor and materials spent to date and during the construction. Last year, $44,000 was transferred from the town’s asphalt spraying account and spent on the project, Selectman John Worth, who has been the town’s contact person for the construction, said.

The Maine Emergency Management Agency and the Franklin County Emergency Management Agency have been providing assistance, Worth said.

Other warrant articles on Monday will include a request for $84,000 to complete a multiyear road repair project on Zions Hill Road, and $9,500 to purchase a rock rake needed to maintain gravel roads. Currently, the town rents the equipment, First Selectman David Archer said.

In the selectman’s race, incumbent John Worth is running against Ed Hastings.

Hastings, an investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office, was an officer with the Farmington Police Department for more than four years, and has served as chief, deputy chief and training officer for the Chesterville Fire Department.

If elected, he said he hopes to establish a long-range planning and capital investment program for all town departments, including a road repair schedule.

He would also like to see a cost analysis done on road construction materials and a permanent record keeping system for selectmen’s meetings.

Hastings would bring to the position his experience as a grant writer that, to date, has resulted in $40,000 for the Fire Department to purchase equipment.

Worth is completing his eighth year on the Board of Selectmen. He said he has been the liaison between the town and the state and local agencies and the engineers working on the George Thomas Road project, and has logged between 80 and 100 hours on the planning.

A truck driver for C.N. Brown who also has his own equipment maintenance business, Worth said that during his tenure, he has helped lower the town’s insurance premiums by 30 percent by putting the policies out to bid; prepared the town’s annual solid waste report for the state and serves on the Sandy River Recycling Association’s Board of Directors; and worked with the Chesterville Historical Society to design and erect a new sign for the front of the town office.