RUMFORD — The final sidewalk plan and the pricing structure for it will go before selectmen at their meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 5, at Rumford Falls Auditorium.

Jen Kreckel of the EnvisionRumford! Sidewalk Committee said Keith Smith, an architect with Terrence J. DeWan & Associates of Yarmouth, and Main-Land Development engineers Rick Dunton and Bob Berry will also be present to answer questions about the plan.

Speaking to members of EnvisionRumford! Thursday, Kreckel said, “This has to be done soon because we have to be able to put bid specs out. If we want the sidewalks done this year, the voters are going to have to vote on it. The first step is finalizing the plan. The second step is getting the select board to approve the plan and put it in front of the town for approval.”

At the initial presentation to selectmen, Dunton estimated the cost of just the concrete sidewalks on Congress Street at between $300,000 and $350,000.

Add in the revitalization aspects from the plan as drafted and that cost rises to $700,000. The cost for all the concrete sidewalk work in the downtown as shown in the plan, including River and Canal streets, is estimated to be $600,000. With the revitalization aspects from the plan, the total cost is an estimated $1.1 million.

Kreckel said a questionnaire has been sent to businesses and property owners on the Island because it impacts their businesses.

“This is really a crossroads for the Island. What we’ll be doing right now is determining how the Island will look for the next 30 to 50 years. We were hoping to make sure that the people who are actually doing business on the Island have some input. Hopefully, we’ll have the information so that by the time we get to next Thursday, we’ll be able to do a complete plan,” she said.

Kreckel acknowledged this may not be an easy sell. “There’s even complaints about how much the engineer costs. But it’s Maine state law that you have to have an engineer on any project over $100,000.”

“There’s two issues,” she said. “There’s sidewalks and there’s some other investment besides sidewalks that are being suggested. The sidewalks have to get redone. But whether we put in some pavers. Whether we put in trees, with containment systems. Whether we put in new lighting and street signs. I’m not aware on any street signs I can recall seeing, on a corner, so that you know what street you’re at. But when people come to our downtown, Congress Street is obvious, but Hartford, Exchange, Lowell, some of those other streets are not as obvious,” she said.

“The sidewalks have to be replaced and I think probably most of the town is committed to that,” Kreckel said. “What I’m not so sure of is what we’re going to do for other things. But if you’re going to do the sidewalks, the engineer told us that you really have to put the bases in for the lights if you’re going to change the lighting. There was also some talk about relocating where the lights are so that when people open their (vehicle) doors, they’re not hitting the light poles,” she said.

If selectmen approved the plan, a special town meeting will be set for voter approval.

“What is envisioned is that it will be a bond,” Kreckel said. “The interest rates are very reasonable right now.”

EnvisionRumford! member Dick Lovejoy asked if the vote would be done by secret ballot.

Kreckel responded, “I don’t know that it’s going to be a secret ballot because it’s not a budget issue. It’s a bond referendum. But I’m going to check that out before we have our meeting.”

bfarrin@sunmediagroup.net

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