Friendship to vote on funding for new town office

FRIENDSHIP – Voters will consider borrowing additional money to build a new town office adjacent to the library on Main Street when they go to the polls Monday.

A proposal on the ballot would fund the town office project by borrowing roughly $160,000 and taking $120,000 from the capital reserve account.

The new town office would be 2,400 square feet, plus 60 square feet for a vault. The office now has 140 square feet. A completion date is not known.

The loan requires five annual payments of $33,348, according to Town Clerk Joel Fearn. The land for the building was purchased in 2001.

The 2005 municipal budget to be considered at the town meeting on March 22 is $656,912, up 1.6 percent from this year’s budget.

The net budget, or amount to be raised through property taxes for town expenses is $291,912, which is 4.6 percent greater than the previous year.

Revenue used to reduce taxes is $365,000 – the same amount as 2004.

The town’s share of Knox County costs is $175,425, slightly less than 2004. Friendship’s portion of SAD 40 expenses is not yet known, Fearn said.

Also unknown is what effect the budget would have on the current tax rate of $12 per $1,000 of assessed value.

At town meeting Tuesday, taxpayers will decide on spending $14,000 to overhaul the highway department backhoe.

Besides voting on a town office at the polls, voters will choose two selectmen from a pool of five candidates.

Kendall Delano Jr. and Wesley A. Lash will compete for a three-year selectman’s seat being vacated by Karl Pitcher, who is not seeking re-election. Jim Bolen, Stephen Hensel and Lura Robinson will vie for the seat previously held by Carl Mueller, who died in November. Two years remain in that post.

SAD 40 director John Lichtman and Assessor Caroline Zuber will run unopposed for three-year seats.

Voters at the polls also will cast ballots on several ordinance amendments.

Polls in Friendship will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, March 21, at the Hahn Community Center. The annual town meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 22, at the same location.