CARRABASSETT VALLEY — Residents are to vote at the open annual town meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center on a proposed $3.17 million municipal budget.
The budget does not include the town’s share of the school department or Franklin County budgets.
With anticipated revenues of $718,900 to offset the budget, it leaves taxpayers to raise $2.4 million for the municipal budget, Town Manager Dave Cota said Thursday.
Voters will also have 32 articles to consider at the meeting.
Article 28 is asking if the town will vote to expend up to $100,000 from undesignated surplus for flood-related damage and improvements.
“We may be doing some flood prevention on projects,” Cota said.
If approved, the money would be used to improve the 6-mile Narrow Gauge Pathway to try to prevent flooding in the future. The non-motorized trail along the Carrabassett River is very popular, Cota said.
Article 29 asks to allow Carrabassett Valley Academy to construct and manage, at no cost to the town, a new fitness and training facility adjacent to the Anti-Gravity Complex. It would be about 6,000 square feet, adjacent to the 20,000-square-foot center.
In articles 31 through 33, residents will be asked to consider zoning ordinance changes, including updating the town’s Shoreland Zoning Ordinance and providing for “contract zoning.” This would provide flexibility for voters to consider a project that may not currently be allowed in a zoning area.
In Article 35, voters will decide to apply for and accept a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant of about $80,000 to reconstruct the Homologated Nordic Ski Loop at the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center and create a new 2.5-kilometer loop at the center.
The article also asks to see if the town will vote to expend up to $80,000 from the Recreation Endowment Fund to match the Land and Water Conservation Fund grant.
Before the start of Wednesday’s meeting there will be a Comprehensive Plan visioning and future land-use session from 3 to 5 p.m.
During the March 5 election, Karen Campbell and Raleigh Ehrelenbach were elected to three-year selectmen terms, with 157 and 96 votes, respectively.
Diane Griffin and Karl Strand were elected to three-year terms on the Sanitary District Board of Trustees, with 153 votes and 150 votes, respectively.
Danielle London was elected to a three-year term on the School Committee with 173 votes.
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