LISBON — The Town Council heard presentations from eight departments at its budget workshop Tuesday evening and discussed funding for a new playground.

The council budgeted $20,000 for the construction of a playground. The money will come from the fund balance and will be formally voted on at the next meeting.

The playground will be 60 by 40 feet, large enough for 50 to 60 children and will be handicapped-accessible.

“It’s going to be the nicest playground in town,” said Mark Stevens, director of Parks and Recreation.

The playground was the major increase for the Recreation Department budget, which now encompasses the Parks Department budget.

Councilors also discussed a $30,000 high-density storage unit for the Town Office vault.

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“We noticed that the greatest need in our department was for storage,” Town Clerk Twila Lycette said. “And putting books into the vault boxes.” The unit will provide shelves for storage.

Being another one-time fee, councilors agreed they would vote for the money to be taken from the unassigned fund balance.

Code Enforcement, Planning Board and Appeals Board budgets were also presented. The Planning Board discussed its $5,000 increase in professional services for an updated comprehensive plan. The plan is updated every 10 years and while the last one cost $10,000, the board did more of the work and cut the number in half.

“I’ve been a proponent of revamping the comprehensive plan to something that’s more like a brochure,” Code Enforcement Officer Dennis Douglass said.

While the board still plans to keep its binder-sized town plan, a shorter brochure would aim to attract people to Lisbon at first glance, Douglass said.

Tracey Steuber, economic and community development coordinator, included a $2,500 increase to the Moxie Festival budget for a longer fireworks show.

At the April 11 budget workshop, Ryan Leighton presented major increases to the technology and winter Public Works budgets. He submitted a $288,061 technology budget, a 35.8 percent increase from the current budget.

“The largest component of the technology budget is the software and network support contracts with various vendors,” Leighton said in his written explanation. Computer equipment also increased by $50,000 because of upgrades to the server software and Microsoft Office licensing townwide.

Leighton presented a $527,475 winter Public Works budget that includes hiring a contractor to maintain sidewalks and constructing a salt storage building. This year’s budget was $227,213.


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