BETHEL — Townspeople will vote on a $3,619,536 municipal budget at the annual town meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, at Crescent Park School.

The budget is $257,573 more than the current $3,361,963 budget. Town Manager Jim Doar attributes the increase to “road work and paving.”

“We try to keep the capital improvements budget down each year, but eventually, stuff just gets stockpiled,” Doar said Thursday morning. “Our operating budget actually dropped by $30,000 this year, but we needed to get some of the road work done.”

The proposed road projects for the 2013-14 fiscal year include $169,500 to grind and repave a mile of Flat Road, $73,850 to install drainage on Chapman Street, $64,400 to pave Bailey Road, $60,000 to replace the Chapman Street sidewalk and $46,650 to resurface Chapman Street.

The Board of Selectmen has also allotted $40,000 in the capital investments budget for the town to purchase a new snowblower. Doar said that normally, the town contracted the snowblowing to a local vendor, who cleared the sidewalks in the village, but the town lost its vendor for the upcoming year.

“The money isn’t to replace an old snowblower with a new one,” Doar explained. “It’s to replace the vendor that we lost.”

Townspeople will also be voting on a series of questions related to a proposed dog park at Davis Park.

Article 5 on the warrant asks voters if a dog park should be constructed at Davis Park with donated funds, and to authorize the Board of Selectmen to accept cash donations from municipalities, businesses, private individuals and foundations to go toward the construction.

The push for a dog park began last summer, after selectmen authorized Doar to appoint Steve Wight of Newry to represent a dog park planning committee and present a plan to the Planning Board.

Shortly after Wight’s plan was approved by the Planning Board, a petition was submitted asking for the construction of a basketball court at Davis Park — the same site that Wight was pursuing for a Bethel Dog Park.

Article 6 asks voters if a basketball court should be built at Davis Park if the Bethel dog park is not approved.

The request for the basketball court began in March after resident Jarrod Crockett told the board he had been contacted by parents interested in a basketball court, due to limited recreational facilities in town. Shortly after, resident Todd Wheeler began circulating a petition to get the question on the town meeting warrant.

In a letter to Doar, Wheeler cited reasons a basketball court would be more beneficial to the town than a dog park, including Bethel’s lack of recreational facilities, Davis Park’s proximity to parking and that the basketball court would not require rerouting a nearby snowmobile trail.

At the May 6 selectmen meeting, the board voted to appoint seven residents to the Bethel Recreation Facilities Committee, a group that Doar said would “prepare a plan for recreational facilities at Davis Park, which may include, but not be limited to, basketball courts, tennis courts and a dog park.” He said they would also “detail necessary ancillary facilities, costs and permits necessary for implementation due to the Board of Selectmen no later than June 30, 2013.”

Article 4 asks voters if they would like to authorize the Board of Selectmen to use cash donations in an effort to implement the recommendations of the Bethel Recreation Facilities Committee.

The selectmen recommend a yes vote on Article 4, but no on Articles 5 and 6.

“We feel that the recreation committee be given a chance to come up with a plan, so we can try to avoid an either/or situation here,” Doar said. “This article would allow the selectmen to implement whatever the committee recommends.”

Residents will also have the opportunity to vote for town officials from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, at Crescent Park School.

Selectmen Stanley Howe and Don Bennett are seeking re-election to three-year terms, while Howe and resident David Luxton are seeking re-election to the Board of Assessors.

There are two openings on the SAD 44 board. Director Elaine Cross and former director Carol Everett are seeking election to three-year terms.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com

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