FARMINGTON — A 20-year Capital Improvement Plan is being developed to help with the budget process and separate needs from wants.
A Capital Improvement Plan can be for five, 10, 15 or 20 years, Town Manager Christian Waller told selectmen Tuesday night. The one Waller is working on would be for 20 years.
An email sent to all department heads asked them to complete a spreadsheet by Sept. 9. Items to include are department, project name, project category, priority, estimated useful life (in years), estimated cost, year item will be needed, number of years needed to save for purchase or number of years needed for financing, and justification.
“(Capital Improvement Plan) is an easy way of being able to look at, by department or town, the capital needs each year,” he noted.
Each department could have a needs list, a wish list, Board of Selectmen Chairman Matthew Smith said. “It’s a good idea,” he added.
“It provides for prioritization, separates wants and needs,” Waller said.
It has been a while since Farmington had a plan, Selectman Joshua Bell noted. It was pretty detailed, he said.
The plan helps provide context, Waller said. He hopes to have it completed by mid-September. Waller wants to get an earlier start on the budget process this year, have conversations prior to getting to decision making.
In other business, Amanda Ricci, owner and clinical director of Lifeline for ME, shared details of a recovery housing proposal she submitted to Franklin County commissioners in July.
No financial commitment was being sought from selectmen, Ricci said. She was there to answer questions about the project.
Franklin County has no recovery residence, there has been a significant increase in overdose deaths, Ricci said. Treatment services would be available for those in recovery and coming out of incarceration, she noted.
Ricci said she was notified a meeting scheduled for next week with commissioners won’t happen as the commissioners are waiting for more information on other proposals. She is seeking $602,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to purchase the Holman House from Old South Congregational Church and cover two years of operational costs incurred by the recovery residence. After that, Ricci indicated the residence would sustain itself.
Farmington was chosen because it is centrally located and on the Western Maine Transportation Services bus route, Ricci said.
The residence would house 12 people in a peer setting with shared rooms. It would have peer staff and one paid administrator. Residents would need to stay sober, submit to random drug screenings, obtain work, and pay their part of the rent. Rent is estimated at $500 per month.
People coming out of incarceration, homeless shelters and Franklin County residents would have top priority for acceptance, Ricci said. The project addresses recovery, reduces recidivism and takes the burden away from jails, she noted.
“It gives people the opportunity to recover, turn their lives around,” Ricci added.
Selectman Scott Landry applauded Ricci’s mission but wasn’t sure how she would fare with the commissioners. A brick wall may be run into when trying to use the Holman House, he added.
If commissioners say no, there are other opportunities, Ricci said. There may be some work to do with the “not in my backyard” club, but they will have a hard time making us go away, she noted. Ricci said she is partnering with Fletcher Group, a national nonprofit funded by the Health Resource Services Administration, a division of Health and Human Services.
Selectman Joshua Bell asked if Maine housing regulations would be met.
A bathroom shower would be needed downstairs, Ricci stated.
Bell also asked about security plans and eviction issues.
People are required to be sober, there hasn’t been a need for security at similar residences, Ricci said. There is a screening, interview process. If someone is found using or drinking they need to leave the program, she added.
While residents may leave whenever they wish, they usually stay six to nine months, Ricci said. Funding would be available until a job is obtained, but if not employed after three months the individual would not be able to stay, she noted.
Ricci is headquartered in Livermore Falls in Androscoggin County. That county already has several options, Franklin County has none, she replied when asked why she didn’t look for housing there.
Drug addicts already exist in the downtown, have conclaves of two to four in an apartment, resident Dennis O’Neil said. There are no constraints, they have no resources, he noted.
“We can’t get too hung up with security,” O’Neil said. He said he was encouraged with the proposal, it is a positive step forward for the community.
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