BUCKFIELD – Selectmen faced little opposition from 11 residents at an informational meeting Wednesday night to discuss a new highway garage.
The low-key atmosphere and scant attendance of the meeting were in sharp contrast to informational meetings held in 1999 and 2000, when the highway garage project was first proposed at an estimated cost of $335,000. At the time, large numbers of residents turned out to vociferously oppose the project.
According to Selectman Skip Stanley, the Board of Selectmen and Town Manager Cindy Dunn have been meeting in workshops for more than a month to discuss the need for a new highway garage.
“We wholeheartedly feel the town of Buckfield can’t do without a new garage at this time,” said Stanley. “The garage is in disrepair” and not compliant with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection rules, he said. “It is inadequate all the way around.”
Among the problems with the current garage, Stanley explained, were inadequate storage and work space, federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration violations, and a list of repairs with a prohibitive price tag.
Selectman Oscar Gammon said one overhead door in the garage gets stuck and another falls off its track and may come crashing down on whoever is standing beneath it.
“The two guys in our highway crew have worked this way for a few years without squawking,” he said.
Selectmen also took into consideration the town’s population growth and future need for a larger garage, Stanley said.
“That department cannot grow until we lay a foundation for it to grow,” Stanley said.
According to an informational packet handed out by Dunn, selectmen are committed to keeping the cost of the garage around $200,000; $109,500 would be borrowed for a term of five years with a 3.2 percent interest rate, $40,000 would be appropriated from funds in the New Highway Garage Reserve and $50,000 would be appropriated through taxation.
However, Dunn was quick to point out that the proposed $50,000 would not affect residents’ tax bills.
The board plans to cut back on the 2003-04 summer roads program in order to finance the garage.
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