DIXFIELD — The Board of Selectmen will hold its meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 23, inside the Dirigo High School community room instead of the Ludden Memorial Library, Town Manger Carlo Puiia said Saturday morning.

The board normally meets in the basement of the Ludden Memorial Library, Puiia said, but since a public hearing on the Safe Routes to School project is being held before the actual meeting, he said that the board agreed to hold the meeting at Dirigo High School.

In early 2013, the town agreed to move forward with constructing 3,500 feet of sidewalk from Dirigo High School to T.W. Kelly Dirigo Middle School, and also constructing a sidewalk the length of Nash Street to the Regional School Unit 10 superintendent’s building. The cost would be split between the town and the Maine Department of Transportation, with MDOT paying 80 percent of the project and the town paying 20 percent.

The town abandoned the Nash Street section of the project last month because the $68,201 cost was considered too high.

During a special town meeting Oct. 1, residents overwhelmingly voted against appropriating $46,850 from surplus as a 20 percent match for building a sidewalk along Weld Street.

However, Puiia said he was told by the MDOT that “now would be an opportune time to put out a bid,” and that if the town had funding difficulties, they could file an appeal for assistance.

“We need to hear from those who support or oppose the installation of 3,500 feet of sidewalks on Weld Street,” Puiia said. “The town is already committed to paying the engineering costs, but must decide if they want to pay the balance of a 20 percent match to complete the project.”

Puiia said that the board will also readdress the Wind Energy Facility Ordinance “with a legal opinion on some questions from the last meeting,” review the updated draft of the Code of Ethics policy, and will vote on whether or not to proceed with the Safe Routes to School project.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net

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