LIVERMORE FALLS — Selectman George Cummings questioned town officials Tuesday night about the interest rate for a federal loan that voters will decide in June.
Residents at the annual town meeting will be asked whether they prefer a 10-, 20- or 30-year loan to pay for fire station renovations.
“You’ve got 3.5 percent,” Cummings said, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is administering the loan, quoted 2.75 percent in 2016 when the project was first discussed.
Town Clerk Amanda Allen said, “That was two years ago. Things have changed. The USDA is dead set that we’re paying 3.5 percent.”
She said town officials would check with Androscoggin Bank and Franklin Savings Bank to see if they could get a loan for less interest.
“I think (the USDA) is trying to stiff the town,” Cummings said.
“We will figure this out,” Allen said. “It will take us a little bit longer than we thought.”
Selectmen voted to include the 10-, 20- and 30-year options in the article.
Fire Chief Edward Hastings IV said all of the town’s firefighting equipment is back in the renovated fire station.
Cummings asked if the back wall would be sealed to protect against water leaks.
“That’s more harmful left unsealed than any other part of the building,” he said.
“I would hope the town does something to address it long-term,” Hastings said.
He said he wanted to have older or antique equipment the department no longer uses displayed at the museum in Jay. He said there wasn’t enough space at the fire station to house all of it.
“I feel like it might actually be seen by more people being up there,” Hastings said.
“If we decide to store it up there, it’s our stuff,” he said. “We can get at it anytime we want.”
In other business, selectmen:
• Reappointed Michael Joseph Castaneda to the Livermore Falls Water District Board of Trustees; and
• Announced that the Town Office will be closed from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. April 24 to vote on the Regional School Unit 73 budget.
bmatulaitis@sunmediagroup.net
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