PARIS — Town Manager Vic Hodgkins told the Board of Selectmen on Monday night he is waiting to hear from the Maine Department of Transportation if Paris will receive reimbursement of $64,000 from the state in connection with a salt and sand shed program the town signed up for in the 1980s.

Hodgkins said Paris constructed a new salt and sand shed in 1988, and joined the salt and sand program at the same time.

The program, which runs in connection with the Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, was created by the Maine Legislature in 1986.

According to the MDOT website, the towns participating fall into five priorities in terms of being reimbursed by the state.

Hodgkins said that priority one towns would be reimbursed first, while priority five towns would be reimbursed last.

According to Hodgkins, Paris is one of 29 communities that fell into the “priority five” list, and that over the years, all of the towns in the priority one, two, and four lists have been paid back.

“I was told that some priority three towns still need reimbursement, and as soon as those towns are paid back, the state moves on to priority five towns,” Hodgkins said. “I was told by the state that Paris would be owed $64,253.”

However, Hodgkins said that he later received an email from the state informing him that the Maine Legislature may not have included funding for the program in its current legislative year.

“Nobody is disputing that the state owes the town of Paris somewhere in the area of $64,000,” Hodgkins told the board. “I’ll be checking in to see where they stand with it in the coming weeks.”

According to the MDOT website, other “priority five” towns that are awaiting reimbursement include Bridgton, Eliot, Freeport, Millinocket, Skowhegan, Scarborough, South Portland and Wiscasset.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net

Selectmen Gary Vaughn, left, and John Andrews, center, talk with Chairman Rusty Brackett on Monday night about when the town might receive more than $64,000 from a salt and sand shed reimbursement program from the 1980s. (Matthew Daigle/Sun Journal)