RUMFORD — A special town meeting will take place Jan. 25 to approve a bond that will fund about half the cost of the new Central Fire Station.

As for the location for the 6 p.m. meeting, Town Manager Stacy Carter will check with Regional School Unit 10 to check on the availability of the Muskie Auditorium at Mountain Valley High School. If that is not available, it will be held at the American Legion.

At the selectmen’s meeting Thursday over Zoom, Carter said, “Our first step will be a workshop by Zoom on Dec. 29 at 5:30 p.m. to discuss the scope of the work, the square footage and the budget that we want to put forward on the warrant question.”

He said he has spoken to the town attorney and bond council to make sure it meets timelines that are required, either by charter or statute.

The board voted 3-0 to approve the timeline after the workshop.

At the Jan. 6 Select Board meeting, the warrant will be approved for the special town meeting. “We would have to have the article to be presented at the special town meeting. Included would be the project cost and what voters will approve for a bond, as well as the location at Falmouth Street and Essex Avenue,” said Carter.

Next, the town would advertise the public hearing and the special town meeting in the local papers on Jan. 12 and post the warrant at three locations.

An in-person public hearing would be held prior to the regular board meeting on Jan. 20 at 5:30 p.m.

Carter indicated that, “the public hearing can be held by Zoom, but the special town meeting I think needs to be in person because we really don’t know how many people will attend. I think it would be rather difficult to be able to tabulate a vote via Zoom.”

Selectman Peter Chase expressed doubt that having the public hearing by Zoom would get any public participation. “I’d actually like to have that in person, if we could do that. I understand concerns, but if we take the precautions, I just think it’s better that we have the public meeting in public.”

Carter said they could do that, but then the following board meeting would then be in public as well. “But it would require masking,” she said.

The board agreed the public hearing should be in-person.

Carter said the bond application is due on Feb. 9, “so having that meeting on Jan. 25 certainly gives myself and bond council time to make sure that we have the application and everything we need to submit that.”

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a senior member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, earlier announced $1 million for the new fire station was successfully secured. It’s part of the nearly $265 million for 106 Maine projects in the fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills, which must be voted on by the full Senate and House.

At multiple public hearings on the fire station proposal this year, it was agreed to select a site and solicit a design. The site chosen was Falmouth Street and Essex Avenue.

Because of rising construction costs, the goal now is to keep the cost of the building around $5 million. Besides the $1 million federal earmark the town expects, there is $1.3 million available from the tax increment financing agreement on extending the power plant.

The Central Fire Station on Congress Street was built in 1924. It houses, on a regular basis, five fire engines and two trailers. When other equipment is included, the combined weight is 141,805 pounds. Beyond that, there’s a building that houses another engine, Ladder 3, which weighs in at 69,500 pounds. Despite the flooring system being reinforced in 1991, stress on the structural integrity has resulted in a number of cracks forming throughout the facility.

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