MINOT – Selectmen agreed Monday night with School Union 29 Superintendent Nina Schlikin’s assessment that the town might not know before the March town meeting how much state money it will get for 2005-06.

In a letter to selectmen, Schlikin pointed out that officials in Augusta are not only a long way from agreeing on the total dollar amount of state aid for next year, but they also haven’t agreed on a formula for how the money will be allocated.

“This is typical of state of Maine officials when it comes to consideration of the needs of small towns,” Selectman Dean Campbell said.

By tradition, many small towns hold their annual town meeting in March. Minot’s is the first Saturday in March and, with that as a deadline, selectmen believe the town should know how much money it can count on by mid-January. This allows the School Committee time to present its finalized budget to selectmen and the town Budget Committee for comment and for the entire budget and budget recommendations to be included in the town report and town meeting warrant.

The selectmen’s response to Schlikin was that if the dollar figures are not available in time, the March town meeting could simply address all the nonschool articles, declare a recess and then continue the meeting in a week, a month, two months or whenever the state funding figures become available and however long it takes to finalize and review the school committee’s funding proposal.

The board reviewed a communication from Maine Municipal Association, which advised town officials that the next two weeks will be critical as the Legislature works on the implementation of the School Finance and Tax Reform Act of 2003. Selectmen agreed not only to keep an eye on what’s happening in Augusta but to let local representatives know that they should provide some real relief to local property taxpayers and end the Legislature’s customary budgetary shell games.

“I’m just afraid it’s going to wind up so we get the same amount as before,” said Campbell.

In other business, selectmen reviewed two articles for town meeting that the recreation committee submitted. The articles would provide local match for two grants that will help develop town land between the school and town office. The grant money would be used for an access road from the school to a parking lot below the school as well as a two-loop trail system for walking, bicycling, cross-country skiing and other nonmotorized activities.

Selectmen also met again with Michael Bureau and his son, Tom, to discuss the Bureaus dispute with Donald Hemond regarding a right of way across Hemond’s land to the rear of the Bureau property.

The Bureaus want Hemond to give them a deeded right of way. However, Campbell told them it didn’t appear the town can force Hemond to comply with their request but added that the board would await word from the town’s lawyer on exactly what the town responsibilities might be. Campbell also noted that the Bureaus are not being denied access by Hemond and they, in fact, had access to that end of their property by other means.