CANTON — Selectmen decided to close some of their stagnant town bank accounts and updated some of their investments at their Wednesday meeting, Town Administrator Scotty Kilbreth said Thursday.

“We had over $33,000 sitting in the Pine Grove Cemetery account and we’re going to put it into a CD; that will earn us a lot more interest as well. I figured that money markets and CDs are pretty safe investments,” Kilbreth said.

Two closed accounts were a debit card account, because the town now uses a credit card for purchases instead of a debit card, and a town-funded unemployment account that was closed because the Maine Municipal Association is now used for unemployment payments for town employees.

“Also we have over $98,000 in the Highway Road account and we’re going to put that into a money market account that pays us 0.6 percent interest. So we’re just looking for ways to make some extra money on our money that’s sitting in the bank,” Kilbreth said.

In other business, the board signed a snow-plowing contract for the Water District. The Water District pays the town about $500 a year to plow around its location at the Old Mill Pond Road, Kilbreth said.

“We do it primarily for safety reasons,” he said. “If we have a structural fire in town it takes a matter of a couple hours for the Fire Department to drain the Water District reservoir, so (when that happens) the Water District has to go up to the filtration plant and turn on the pumps to fill the reservoir.” 

The Water District has used the town’s snow-plowing services since 1993.

In other news, state Rep. Richard Pickett will attend the next selectmen meeting on Thursday, Dec. 14, at 6:30 p.m.

“We’re hoping Mr. Pickett will help with some legislation that gets (tax-incentive financing) laws changed so it would be advantageous for small towns to do TIFs,” Kilbreth said.

Following TIF research done by a tax consultant this fall, it was discovered that Canton would capture only five percent of the town’s value, a little over $2.3 million. Selectmen decided at a meeting earlier this month that a TIF was not a worthwhile investment.

Also, there will be a holiday craft fair Sunday, Dec. 3, at the Town Office meeting room from 10 a.m to 3 p.m., where shoppers can choose from a wide variety of local crafts and goods.

mhutchinson@sunmediagroup.net

A holiday craft fair will be held at the Canton Town Office meeting room from 10 a.m to 3 p.m. on Dec. 3. (Facebook photo)

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