OTISFIELD — Town meeting voters on Saturday will be asked if they want to pursue construction of a town garage.

They will also be asked to approve a $1.3 million budget, which includes money for new air packs for firefighters.

The meeting will begin with the election of selectmen, a moderator and a road commissioner. It gets under way at 9 a.m. at the Otisfield Community Hall. Selectman Rick Michlon is seeking re-election to the board.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Hal Ferguson said the town’s operating budget is about 1 percent higher than last year’s and contains money to give Town Office employees an average 4 percent pay increase and the road commissioner a $2,000 raise.

The 2011-12 fiscal year begins July 1.

“We’re hoping to maintain the mill rate,” Ferguson said. “That’s the goal and we’re optimistic we can do it.”

Voters will be also be asked in a straw poll whether they want to pursue construction of a town garage. Ferguson said the town does not currently have a garage. If it’s approved, he said, the town would seek funding at the next annual town meeting, and with the additional space perhaps buy some needed equipment in the future.

Voters will be asked to approve $18,294 as a first-year payment for the lease or purchase of 12 air packs for firefighters. The total cost of up to $91,466 would be bonded over five years, Ferguson said.

Approval of an article amending the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance is also being sought. If approved, the ordinance would restrict the amount of clear-cutting a property owner could do on a less-than-2-acre site. Under the current ordinance, the amount of allowable tree-cutting on a 2-acre site could devastate a smaller lot, officials said.

The amendment would say that “in no event shall cleared openings for any purpose, including but not limited to, principal and accessory structures, driveways, lawns and sewage disposal areas, exceed in the aggregate, 25 percent of the lot area within the shoreland zone, including land previously cleared.” The provision does not apply to the General Development districts.

Voters will also be asked to approve $5,000 as the town’s share to repair the Thompson Lake dam in Oxford.

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