ROXBURY — Funding for a half-mile boardwalk trail and replacing the loading dock at the Ellis Pond boat launch are among the 89 articles voters will decide upon at this Sunday’s annual town meeting.

The meeting gets underway at noon at the Town Office, 1095 Roxbury Road.

Tax Collector and Treasurer Renee Hodsdon said the proposed 2024-25 municipal budget is about $667,560, about $27,000 more than the current budget.

Select Board Chairman Tim Derouche said the $374,000 funding for the building construction of a half-mile walking trail near Roxbury Pond that will come from the Roxwind TIF funding, which has been fully approved. “So there will be no raising of tax monies as they have the account with the funds now.”

Over a 2.5 acre parcel, he said the town has had the trail engineered by Main-Land Development of Livermore Falls. “We’re still working on permitting but we’ve been to the Army Corps of Engineers and Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. The Army Corps of Engineers said we couldn’t fill it in with gravel, so 80 to 90 percent of it will be board walk, which will be costly.”

Derouche said, “If it is approved, we will get going on it. I don’t know if we’ll complete it within the next year or so. You’ll be able to enter the board walk from either Main Street or from the campground.”

He said, “We priced it all out and because we have to go to board walk, we’ve got these metal pylons that will go down in the ground about six feet and we’ll put the board walk on top of that so it won’t move over the years or be on the ground, so as to keep the wetlands intact.”

He said the idea is to try to alleviate some of the foot traffic on a portion of Main Street, which is narrow and busy at times with vehicles going to and from the pond. Walkers will get on the trail from Main Street and get off the board walk at Main Street or connect to the campground.

“Hopefully, the residents will agree with it. Tt should be nice to walk around in there,” said Derouche.

Article 44 asks the town to raise $48,000 from the general fund for the Ellis Pond dock. Up to $42,804.50 would be reimbursed through a Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands Boating Facilities Fund Grant.

Derouche this will replace the loading dock at the Ellis Pond boat launch. “It will be a fully ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant, from the parking lot out onto the platform so a boat can pull up to the side and someone can come down in a wheelchair and get on the boat.”

He noted that the town raised $25,000 a few years back towards funding this project. “They give us the money and we’ll probably do this this year.”

Hodsdon said article 51 will ask the town to raise $40,000 toward the future revaluation of the town. Last year’s appropriation was $5,000 and the balance forward is $32,411.77. She said they don’t know how much the revaluation will cost as they have yet to request proposals, but they need to do one soon. The last revaluation was done in 2013.

Derouche said the Roxbury Historical Society will be asking for more funding, but they are also trying to help with an effort in the future to bring a veterans memorial to Roxbury. There will be speaker trying to get local veterans together to try to get the project going.

Hodsdon said that Select Board member Matt Patneaude term is expiring. He has filed nomination papers for another three-year term, as has challenger James Manson. Voters will determine the winner by written ballot at Sunday’s meeting.

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