Mars Hill council passes 2005 budget

MARS HILL – Local residents had nothing to say about the town’s proposed 2005 budget during a recent public hearing on the matter.

No one from the public attended the meeting to comment on the municipal side of the budget, which increased slightly from last year, Town Manager Ray Mersereau said Thursday.

After closing the brief hearing, the Town Council voted on Monday night to accept the budget, which was amended last week by the town’s budget committee, Mersereau said.

The total local expenditure budget amounts to $894,633, an increase of $21,300 from last year. The estimated revenue budget is $498,063, an increase of $22,876.

The increases on both sides of the budget are creating a neutral budget for the coming year – though like everyone else, Mersereau said, the town has to wait for the school aid numbers before it can determine final figures.

Factors driving this year’s budget include insurance, fuel and employee wages. Town officials will set the mill rate in June.

In other news, the council:

. Authorized the town manager to sign paperwork for permanent financing from the Maine Bond Bank for the town’s $600,000 fire station project. The town will borrow $350,000 or less in June, when the bank conducts its spring issue of bonds. Rates for the 20-year loan will be set before the spring issue.

The funds will be put toward the town’s construction of a 70-by-100-foot fire station on downtown property near Market Street. The facility will replace Mars Hill’s 57-year-old station.

The town previously garnered a $250,000 Community Development Block Grant for the project.

Work on the Hiram Adelman Memorial Fire Station is on schedule, Mersereau said, with the shell of the building up and the roof installed. Crews soon will put in overhead doors at the facility, which crews expect will be completed in early June.

. Approved a change to small signs advertising Big Rock Ski Area on the town’s three gateway signs. Officials with the ski area requested the change to bigger, improved signs to better direct people to the Mars Hill slopes. They presented on Monday night drawings of what the signs would look like, Mersereau said.

With the council’s approval, Big Rock officials expect to put up the new signs within the next 30 days.

The Town Council will hold its next meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 21, at the town office.