The Orono Town Council got a boost in fundraising for its new public library when the council unanimously voted this week to accept a $45,000 New Century Construction Grant.

The town also filled the position of local health officer and created a community health advisory committee when the council met Monday.

The council accepted the library grant by a vote of 5-0. The money will go toward the new library building, a project that has been in the works since 2003.

“It’s very good news,” Town Manager Cathy Conlow said.

The town is in the process of considering bond proposals for the library. There will be public hearings on the issue next month, Conlow said.

Orono Public Library Foundation Vice President Dana Devoe said there is now enough money to start and complete construction. The original fundraising goal was $2.4 million, but that number has been lowered because of revisions to the construction plans.

The foundation’s funding includes other grants, donations, pledges and cash the town has already committed. The numbers include $350,000 out of a $500,000 bond issue Devoe said the Town Council likely will pass.

Council chairman and library foundation treasurer Jeff Gordon said the foundation currently has about $2,049,000. In-kind money makes up 5 percent to 7 percent of that total.

The council also unanimously voted to appoint Assistant Town Manager Maria Weinberger as the Local Health Officer. The LHO, which each community must have as required by state law, receives and examines citizens’ complaints about public health issues, investigates conditions posing a public health threat and enforces public health safety laws.

Members of the town’s new health committee will include councilors Thomas Spitz and Lianne Harris.

Conlow said the town will solicit other community members to participate and will likely ask Emily Wesson, who serves as the nurse for Orono schools and as a representative from the Orono Healthy Association.

There is no date for a first meeting for the health committee, which Conlow said will review funding requests, allocate money and support other agencies such as Penquis and the Eastern Area Agency on Aging, which do work in Orono.

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

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