PALMYRA – Voters at the Palmyra annual town meeting Saturday turned down a request to help the Pittsfield Public Library with its 100th anniversary renovation project.

In nearby Corinna, voters approved $370,000 for redevelopment of their downtown, a Superfund site and former home of Eastland Woolen Mill.

Voters in both towns defeated a tax-cap proposal aimed at SAD 48 and previously defeated by voters in Newport, Hartland and St. Albans. Town officials in the district communities have said the cap, which limited municipal and district leaders to spending increases no larger than the rate of inflation, would have crippled their towns.

Palmyra resident Hadley Smith, a founding member of the Committee for Reasonable Taxation, defended the proposal at his town meeting, saying it was merely a guideline that the group understood couldn’t be enforced. The cap was narrowly defeated, 20-19.

At least one selectman was disappointed that the library support was not forthcoming.

“[The trustees] asked for $10,000 and I knew that wouldn’t fly,” said Selectman Priscilla Jones. “I was hoping the voters would go for $5,000. We take advantage of all these services provided by other towns. We should be paying for it.”

The vote to support the library at the $5,000 fee ended in a tie – a failure, according to the rules of order.

In other business, Palmyra voters:

. Defeated an article to support the Sebasticook Valley Community Center with a $3,000 stipend.

. Accepted a portable building behind the town office as town-owned property and appropriated $5,000 for repairs. Jones said it would be likely that a committee or task force will be created to research use of the building.

In Corinna, the 2004 municipal budget is $976,329, a $102,471 increase over last year. The increase was across the board, said Town Manager Judy Doore, and included a grader purchase, rentals for new fire hydrants and upgrades to the Stewart Library.

Doore said the mill rate will remain at $18.90 per $1,000 in valuation.

Corinna voters backed the revitalization plan for a barren section of the Superfund site between Route 43 and the Sebasticook River. The town will spend $370,000 on infrastructure, creating two roads and installing water and sewer service. Most of that money — $300,000 – will be taken from undesignated surplus, while the remainder will come from excise and property taxes. The improvements will allow the Penquis Community Action Program plan to build a senior citizen complex and center and allow the town to capture between $40,000 and $60,000 annually in new tax revenue.

The funding of the infrastructure project is the town’s only opportunity to begin the process of rebuilding the area, said Doore. Town officials expect the senior complex, which could also include a second phase, to be the centerpiece of downtown rebuilding.

In other business, Corinna voters:

. Rejected new subdivision regulations on the recommendation of planning board chairman Carl Smith, when he explained the rules were still being finalized.

. Elected Scott Paradis and Jeanne Carcieri, an incumbent, to the Board of Selectmen, and Suzan Reed to the SAD 48 board of directors.