DIXFIELD — The town of Dixfield is presenting a 2027 municipal budget of just under $3 million, an increase of 2.69% from this year’s $2.92 million, according to Town Manager Alicia Conn.

A public hearing on the proposal will take place Monday, May 11, at 5:30 p.m. at the fire station meeting room off Main Street, followed by the regular Select Board meeting.

“We’re always trying to keep the budget as low as possible, with rising costs and fuel,” Conn said May 1.

At the same time, she said the Select Board has been working the past few years to increase funding for town reserve accounts.

“That’s really been the focus, trying to get that back up, so we can fund projects and things that need to be done,” Conn said.

Dixfield has been building its reserves to buy a pumper/tanker in 2028.

At the April 27 Select Board meeting, Fire Chief Scott Dennett said they are working with Deep South Fire Trucks of Collins, Mississippi, to build the truck, which is expected to cost about $510,000. All that cost is expected to be covered by the fire department reserve fund.

Dennett said the pumper/tanker would replace the 2003 tanker, purchased new for $147,000. He said an option for the 2003 tanker might be with the East Dixfield Fire Department, which could be looking to replace its 1981 fire truck.

To try to keep the price at present levels, the Select Board voted 4-0 on April 27 in favor of Dennett’s recommendation to buy the chassis now, which he said will be around $130,000.

Select Board member Dan Carrier Sr., who serves on the fire truck committee, abstained from the vote.

The fire department reserve fund will be depleted for the purchase, but “it’s something we have to do. It’s just necessary,” Conn said.

INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING

Conn is applying for eight grants for three major projects — the Hall Hill Pump Station rebuild, the Porter Road Bridge/culvert, and the Common Road reconstruction.

The Maine Department of Transportation declined to support the bid for federal funding for Common Road. Conn got permission from the Select Board to continue working with Dirigo Engineering to write technical aspects of the grants.

“In all three of those projects, we’re going out for grant funding to offset, if not cover, the cost of those. One of those covers the Common Road, two for the Porter Road, one with loan forgiveness for the pump station,” Conn said.

She said damage from the 2023 flood “derailed all of our focus, and we had to focus on those roads, and that took us about two years to get those completed.”

Conn said reconstruction on Common Road is desperately needed because it has deteriorated so much that it’s impassable in places.

“We’re applying for funding over the worst section, from Route 2 in, which is about 1.5 miles of the 3.2-mile road. That large section is the worst, by far, the most washed out, the most deteriorated,” she said.

Conn said it is a safety concern.

“It’s a concern to local businesses owners that live on that road and need to travel it with their large vehicles or trailers,” she said. “It’s very difficult to get through there right now. You cannot go the speed limit of that road at this point.”

Common Road has crowned and drainage was not established.

“It was never fully constructed. It was always built on what was existing,” Conn said. “The shoulders are nonexistent and it goes back to the days of having wood roads, and stumps and rocks are still in place. They really need to be dug up. We need to go to that 24 inches down and really level it off.

Conn said they hope to go after federal funding for the work next year.

Meanwhile, the town is seeking a grant from the Maine Infrastructure Adaptation Fund for work on the Newton Brook Bridge on the Porter Road. Dixfield is soliciting proposals for design engineering services for a roadway stream crossing project for the Porter Road.

The Maine Infrastructure Adaptation Fund, administered through the Maine Department of Transportation, provides grants to municipalities, tribal governments, and others to improve stormwater, drinking water, and wastewater infrastructure from flooding, rising sea levels and extreme weather.

With the Hall Hill Pumping Station, Conn said the town had initially received over $500,000 in 2023 through U.S. Rep. Jared Golden’s office.

“Due to the economic status of the town, we were able to apply for additional forgiveness that brought us to over $600,000,” Conn said. “And with that, we’re applying for loan forgiveness for the remaining portion to try to offset the cost we need to carry, which is over a million-dollar project at this point.”

Conn said the pumping station services about 550 households and is more than 40 years old. Its expected life span is about 20 years.

Money has been set aside for updating the town’s 2007 comprehensive plan, which includes working with the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments.

A seven-member comprehensive planning committee is putting together a community survey that should be available to the public this summer.