Town meetings

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Abbot

A municipal spending plan that reflects a decrease of about $3,000 will be up for adoption at the annual town meeting Monday.

To cover municipal costs, selectmen have proposed spending $168,820 from taxation, according to Selectman Jan Ronco. That amount excludes $4,937 requested from social service agencies.

Selectmen have proposed appropriating $3,500 for part-time office help to fill in where needed. In addition, a proposal to buy $7,000 worth of software for assessing will require voter approval. Ronco said the program now used for assessing is outdated and is difficult to update.

Residents will elect a selectman, a SAD 4 director and a Hospital Administrative District 4 director.

The town meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Monday, March 19, in the Town Hall. (Diana Bowley, BDN)

Atkinson

As they have each year, residents will be asked at the annual town meeting to use trust funds to help local students with college expenses.

The town has about $85,000 in a trust fund for education, and selectmen have proposed giving a $400 scholarship to each graduating senior from Atkinson who is continuing his or her education.

Residents also will act on a request to give a $200 donation to each junior from Atkinson who will be traveling to Washington for the Close-Up Program.

Another routine request will be to give $200 to each full-time college student from Atkinson who is in their second year of college and up.

The funds for the scholarship and close-up funds would be taken from the Atkinson School Trust Fund which consists of the proceeds from the sale of the former Atkinson Elementary School years ago.

Residents also will elect a town clerk, a selectman, a treasurer, a collector of taxes, a road commissioner, and a constable.

The town meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Monday, March 19, in the Atkinson Fire Hall. (Diana Bowley, BDN)

Guilford

A municipal spending plan of $528,525 that represents an increase of about $5,000 over the present spending plan will be up for discussion and action at the annual town meeting Monday.

A proposal to accept the Guilford Memorial Library as a town department will need voter action. The proposal, embraced by the library trustees, will mean library employees will become municipal employees.

Residents will be asked to approve a Community Development Block Grant application in the amount of $250,000 for housing assistance, if the town is successful in the grant.

Elections will be held for two selectmen, a Guilford-Sangerville Sanitary District trustee, two SAD 4 directors and three trustees of the Guilford Memorial Library.

The town meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Monday, March 19, at Piscataquis Community Middle School. (Diana Bowley, BDN)

Eddington

The first payment for the Town Hall addition is one of the budget items that residents will consider at Tuesday’s annual town meeting.

Since residents have been paying for a property revaluation over the past three years, which amounted to $32,500 last year, the first $47,310 payment for the approximately $900,000 construction project will not significantly increase the bottom line, Town Manager Russell Smith said last week.

Town officials used that fact in the fall as a selling point for the construction project, which is expected to be finished in mid-May.

The municipal offices moved to their new location in the building this week. While work is done to renovate the old town offices into room for the Fire Department, residents should still use the back door, which enters the building through the new meeting room.

Most of the other warrant articles for the annual meeting are voted on every year, but new to this year is Article 13, which asks for an increased property level limit above and beyond the $44,189 amount set by the state, he said.

“We wouldn’t know until we go to commit [the taxes] this summer how the numbers work out,” he said. “It’s very confusing. I think every town has that.”

Currently, “we’re under that [state-set amount] with $43,328,” Smith said.

Residents will vote on the $867,363 proposed budget for fiscal year 2007-08.

The town budget includes $20,570 for general government; $260,973 for administrative salaries and expenses; $175,300 for highways; $221,721 for protection; $135,509 for human services; $5,000 for the unanticipated emergency expenses account; and $47,310 for the town hall renovation payment.

The preliminary budget does not include the Penobscot County tax or the SAD 63 budget amount, which are needed before the final overall budget is determined in June.

The town meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 20, at Eddington Elementary School. (Nok-Noi Hauger, BDN)

Plymouth

Because of the weekend storm, the annual town meeting has been postponed one week to 10 a.m. Saturday, March 24.

Selectman Wade Richardson said voting took place as expected on Friday, and polls closed at 8 p.m.