NORWAY — The Select Board scheduled a special Town Meeting to appropriate up to $25,000 to help recruit replacements for several town officials who are set to retire this year.
The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 17, at 7 p.m. at the Municipal Building at 19 Danforth St.
Town Manager Dennis Lajoie, Police Chief Robert Federico, Fire Chief Dennis Yates and Highway Foreman Art Chappell are among the town leaders scheduled to retire by the end of the year.
The funds will go toward advertising, consults with the police chief and fire chief associations as well as the Maine Municipal Association and other related expenses. The funding would come from the town’s undesignated, unrestricted fund balance, currently at $3.9 million, according to auditor Tim Gill from the accounting firm Bunyon Kersteen Ouellette of South Portland. Gill presented the results of the audit Thursday night and told the board the town is in excellent financial shape with a healthy fund balance.
Tax revenues were up due to an increase in excise taxes collected beyond expectations. The town also received a greater share of state revenue sharing than anticipated. Expenditures, meanwhile, were $400,000 lower than budgeted. Short-term debt also dropped.
In other business, the board agreed to spend up to $55,000 from American Rescue Plan Act funds for a new police cruiser. The amount covers a 2021 Dodge Durango from Bessey Motors in Paris, police lights and other equipment. The new vehicle would be added to the current rotation of cruisers, allowing the department to extend the life of the other cruisers by three to four years, Federico said.
“That makes sense,” said Chairman Russell Newcomb. “It should extend the life of the cruisers. I don’t see a downside.”
The Select Board also updated the town’s COVID-19 policy for its employees, allowing all employees who have had to quarantine due to a positive test or close contact to receive up to 10 days paid time without using sick time, no matter what their vaccination status was. The policy is retroactive to the start of the pandemic in 2020 when the emergency order was first declared by the governor.
The board accepted a payment of $1,039.60 from the town of Paris for firefighting foam. Yates explained that the two towns had joined together to purchase the foam but Paris was running low on supplies and Norway had an abundance of foam.
The board agreed to Yates’ request to use the funds to purchase an in-line eductor. Yates explained that his department uses foam after a fire is extinguished to prevent flare-ups later.
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