Abbot to decide use of postal lease funds

ABBOT – Ever since the U.S. Postal Service signed a 20-year lease on a small plot of town-owned land next to the municipal building in 2000, the town has faithfully received a check of about $2,500 from the Postal Service each year.

The future use of those funds will be determined at the 7 p.m. March 17 annual town meeting to be held at the municipal building.

The Postal Service had planned to place a modular building on the small plot to serve as a new location for the post office, but the property has been vacant since the agency initiated a capital-spending freeze a few months after the lease was signed.

Until this year, the funds were placed in the surplus account, according to Selectman Jan Ronco. She said the board is proposing that this year’s lease payment be used to offset the cost of keeping the former elementary school building open. The school building was deeded back to the town by SAD 4 several years ago when it became apparent there would be no future need for the facility.

Ronco said Tuesday that the building would make an ideal location for a business or a post office. Town officials have discussed the idea with postal officials, who want to relocate the post office from its current quarters on Route 15 to a more secluded location to reduce safety and traffic concerns.

Also at the town meeting, residents will be asked to rename the Town Hall maintenance account to the capital improvement account to be used for municipal building repairs and paving of the municipal parking lot.

The budget committee has recommended raising $3,000 from taxation under the Town Hall maintenance account. A later article asks to establish the capital improvement account and selectmen have recommended using $3,000 from taxation. Residents will decide whether or not to raise both amounts for the same purpose.

Residents also will be asked to appropriate $16,000 from surplus to hire professional help with the development of a comprehensive plan. Some work has been completed, including a survey that indicated that 51 percent of the property owners are nonresidents and 49 percent are year-round residents. Piper Pond and a major portion of Whetstone Pond are within the boundaries of Abbot. The next process in the development of a comprehensive plan is an inventory and analysis of 13 different features, from the economy to transportation.

If residents accept the entire 49-article warrant, they will have approved a 13 percent increase in spending over the current year, according to Ronco. Social service requests amount to $3,765 and insurance and solid waste costs reflect a combined increase of $9,700.

“We’ve tried to hold costs,” Ronco said. She expects that the mill rate of $14.35 per $1,000 valuation will either remain constant or reflect a slight increase.