RANGELEY — The Board of Selectmen has called a special town meeting April 8 to address an anticipated deficit in the Police Department budget.

The Police Department budget prediction reflected a deficit of about $95,000 by June 30, the end of the budget year, according to Town Manager Joe Roach. It is due, in part, to a collective bargaining agreement ratified in the spring of 2024, before the current budget was adopted.

Roach previously presented a memo to selectmen recommending a special town meeting be called to request that any police department overdraft be closed from the unassigned fund balance.

During a discussion with the Board of Selectmen on Feb. 3, Roach shared a side bar agreement between the town and Teamsters Local 340. The document was signed by union representatives Jan. 24 and by the town’s human resource consultant, Annalee Rosenblatt, on Jan. 30.

The agreement states the the Fair Labor Standards workweek will be in force for the Police Department at 43 hours per week. The normal workweek would consist of 24 hours on and 48 hours off. One officer at a time will work a 24-hour shift, six hours of which will be on call. The on-call officer will be paid $100. All other terms and conditions of work for police officers in the collective bargaining agreement will be in force.

Prior to the side bar agreement, officers were paid an hourly rate for each hour worked, including periods of rest.

The time and place of the April 8 meeting are not listed on the town website. Public hearings will be scheduled leading up to the meeting.

Other business

The board continued discussion of the proposed Comprehensive Plan update with a review of the economy chapter. A section about shoulder seasons and bad weather days suggested the need for more indoor activities such as “bowling, axe throwing, corn hole and other games, and impromptu movie afternoons.”

Selectman Samantha White asked that redundancy of businesses and activities be reviewed.

“We have a bowling alley in town that has been very successful,” she said. “I think on those slow shoulder seasons, we need to address energy and operation costs for businesses.”

White continued by asking about housing.

Community planner Donna Larson Kane of LK Planning said, “If I were to ask what the biggest issue is, no matter who I spoke to, it would be housing.”

The housing chapter is expected to be ready for board review soon, she added.

The Comprehensive Plan Review Committee is expected to wrap up its work by early March. Kane said the goal is to have the plan ready for residents to vote on at the June town meeting.