SOUTHWEST HARBOR – A proposal to build a new police station next to the year-old fire station on Main Street will be on the ballot when local voters hold their annual town meeting next week.

The open floor session of annual town meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Monday, May 5, at Pemetic Elementary School. Ballot voting will take place from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, at the new fire station on Main Street.

The new police station project and a proposal to lengthen the town dock next to the Coast Guard station will be voted upon by secret ballot on Tuesday. Voters also are expected to consider a proposed school budget of approximately $4 million on Monday and then to cast a second verification vote on the school budget by secret ballot vote on Tuesday.

The cramped quarters at the existing police station on the first floor of the town office has been an issue for years, but took on new energy last year after the fire department moved out from its similarly tight space next to the police station to a new building farther north on Main Street. Since then, the board of selectmen have been discussing whether to let the police department expand into the old fire department or whether to build a new work facility for its law enforcement employees.

Robin Bennett, Southwest Harbor’s town manager, said Thursday that selectmen eventually decided to accept the advice of several studies and recommendations over the years to build a new police station in the downtown village area but apart from the town office. The town would borrow $800,000 for the project and repay it over 20 years with approximately $420,000 in interest for an overall cost of about $1.2 million, she said.

If voters approve the proposal, there would be more room in the town office to build new public restrooms, a fire-proof vault, and a larger meeting room, Bennett said.

Voters also will consider whether to raise $125,000 to extend the lower town dock 50 feet farther out from shore. Bennett said the project, funded with the help of an additional $94,000 grant, would allow most fishing boats to use the dock even during the lowest of tides.

The overall proposed 2008-2009 budget for Southwest Harbor, including school costs, is $7.3 million. If the budget is adopted, the current tax rate of $7.95 per $1,000 of each property’s value is expected to increase to $8.39 per $1,000 of each property’s value, according to Bennett.

For the first time, voters also will be asked to consider a proposed $486,000 capital improvements plan. Capital projects previously had been budgeted in individual department reserve accounts, Bennett said, but this year have been compiled into a unified plan to make it easier for town officials to prioritize and coordinate projects.

“This is one of the things I was asked to do when I was hired,” said Bennett, who took the job as town manager last fall. “It’s a better planning tool.”

In local elections, four people are running for two available seats on the board of selectmen. Incumbent Trudy Bickford is seeking re-election, but Whitney Granholm has decided not to run again. Vaughn Clark, Ralph Dunbar and Sandy Johnson also are selectmen candidates. On the school committee, Ingrid Kachmar, Erika Lindquist and Michael Sawyer are running for two available seats.

btrotter@bangordailynews.net

460-6318