By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
LIMESTONE — Following a meeting with town’s department heads, governing town board and a handful of members of the budget committee, the selectpeople discussed during a short meeting on Jan. 18 finding out what it’s costing the town to be a part of the Regional School Unit 39 with Caribou and Stockholm versus how much it would cost the town’s school to strike out on its own.
Brought up by selectperson chair Fred Pelletier during the elected officials’ report, the board asked Town Manager Donna Bernier after a short discussion to look into obtaining the figures of the town’s actual cost with the RSU and the cost of continuing the school without being under the RSU’s umbrella.
The selectpeople also discussed the transfer of ownership of the MSSM dormitory building, formerly the Limestone Elementary School, from the RSU to the magnet school. As the RSU school board is moving forward with the transfer of ownership, still in preliminary stages, selectperson Gary O’Neal expressed the necessity to include rights for the Limestone Middle School sports teams and the Limestone Recreation Department to use the building’s gymnasium.
“I just want to be sure that somewhere, somehow, we get it down that we get use of that gym for the mid-level [sports teams] and the recreation department before we sign off on that,” O’Neal told Bernier and the board.
Bernier informed the selectpeople that the RSU has approved the building transfer on the board level and there will still need to be a public hearing before the property exchange.
The selectpeople also discussed making certain that the building would be transferred back to the town, not the RSU, should the magnet school change locations at any time.
In her manager’s report, Bernier informed the selectpeople that she’d received a draft of the downtown revitalization plan late that afternoon, and would be sharing the draft with the board members.
The selectpeople also passed a motion to approve a Community Development Block Grant application put forth by the Loring Development Authority to obtain funds for their water and sewer line, storm drainage and facility infrastructure.
“We have to sponsor [their application] through the CDBG mandate, and they have to have our authority,” Bernier said, handing what looked to be a two-inch thick application to the selectpeople for their signatures.
The twice-monthly meeting of the selectpeople took place following the mid-year budget review.
From July to December of 2011, the following amounts have been spent, by account:
• the town’s administration had spent $97,822 (47.95 percent) of its annual $204,026 budget;
• the public works department had spent $210,963 (52.85 percent) of its annual $399,140 budget;
• the police department had spent $124,415 (54.43 percent) of its annual $228,560 budget (which was cut approximately $30,000 at the last annual town meeting);
• the fire department had spent $33,835 (34.76 percent) of its annual $97,330 budget;
• the library department had spent $32,150 (47.39) of its annual $67,840 budget;
• the recreation department had spent $46,197 (56.06 percent) of its annual $82,400 budget;
• expenses from the debt retirement account for the fire station building totaled $38,913 (100 percent) of its annual $38,914 budget;
• the town’s economic and community development account spent $550 (1.45 percent) of its annual $38,000 budget,
• insurance expenses were $26,150.90 (41.61 percent) of its annual $62,850 budget;
• social services (general assistance, ambulance costs, etc.) expenses were $28,941 (78.09 percent) of its annual $37,060 budget;
• the town hadn’t spent anything from its unclassified account (support for the town’s Fourth of July celebration, the Chamber of Commerce, the Humane Society contract, etc.), with a balance of $17,521;
• the town spent $25,000 (100 percent) of their reserves account ($10,000 was put into the town’s public works reserve account, $10,000 was put into the library building reserve account and $5,000 was put into the town’s revaluation reserve);
• solid waste expenses were $22,110 (49.69 percent) of its annual $44,500 budget;
• public safety (fire hydrants and street lights) expenses were $50,149 (47.99 percent) of its annual $104,500 budget;
• the county tax expenses were $69,715 (100 percent) of its annual $69,716 budget; and
• the school expenses were $239,427 (44.08 percent) of its annual $543,223 budget.
Overall, the town has spent $1,046,338 (50.78 percent) of its annual $2,060,580 budget.
The next meeting of the Limestone Selectpeople is scheduled for tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Limestone Municipal Building.
