POLAND — The Select Board received a favorable report on the town’s financial situation Tuesday night.

Christina Howe, senior auditor from RHR Smith & Company in Buxton, presented the audit review for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020. The only recommendation was for the town to update their fund balance policy to be consistent with the town’s current practices and procedures.

Town Manager Matt Garside said, “A good audit review doesn’t happen by accident” and praised the work of  Debbie Fitzpatrick, Poland’s finance director.

Garside also informed the board that Poland will receive two payments of almost $593,000, one this year and another next year, from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, part of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package passed earlier this year.

Garside said the money will be kept in a separate account and expenditures will follow authorized federal guidelines.

In other business, the Board of Selectpersons approved the sale of the 9.5-acre Sadie Jackson lot for $101,000 to Brandon Leclerc of Poland. Voters authorized the sale at the April town meeting with a minimum bid of $65,000.

Selectpersons also approved the expenditure of $9,600 to Sebago Technics “to assist the Community and Economic Development Committee in developing an overall vision for the aesthetics of development … as well as to provide guidance to developers to achieve desired design outcomes” in downtown standards.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

filed under: