EDDINGTON – By a vote of 5 to 1, the handful of residents who attended a special town meeting Tuesday approved moving $60,000 from reserve accounts to pay for road projects finished last summer.

Residents approved moving $15,000 from the town road reserve account and $45,000 from the major road reserve account to pay for work done on Levenseller Road and paving Chemo Pond Road.

“This was an overrun,” Town Manager Russell Smith said during the meeting. “This is to take care of work that was done this [fiscal] year.”

In other budgetary matters, the three selectmen in attendance reviewed the second version of the draft municipal budget with Town Manager Russell Smith.

With increases to the fire, police, town staff, and insurance budget lines, the most recent version of the preliminary municipal budget has increased since the board last reviewed it two weeks ago.

The new amounts put the budget at $824,045, an increase of $34,695.

“I’m hoping to squeeze that down,” Smith said, stressing that the figures are fluid so early in the budget process.

“We just got the contract for police protection Friday,” he said. “It’s gone up $5,000, basically for fuel and insurance.”

The $62,997 cost for law enforcement will be offset by $10,000 from the town-owned police vehicle reserve account, endorsed during last year’s annual town meeting.

In addition, the fire department has requested an additional $4,100 and Smith has set aside $13,550 to increase wages for office employees to bring their wages up to par with other local communities.

The town is also growing.

“We’ve got six subdivisions right now that are in the works,” Smith said as a demonstration of the town clerk workload. “Glenburn and Hermon are getting full. Now, we’re getting hit.”

Three of the six subdivisions have sketch plans and three are in the works, which means there is tons of paperwork ahead for town officials, he said.

Plus, the town added 27 new homes, 14 of them trailers, to last year’s tallies, which increased property value by approximately $3.5 million.

The school portion of the budget, which accounts for more than half of the town’s annual costs, will not be complete until June, and figures for the Penobscot County tax have yet to be calculated, Smith said.

Residents will finish the budget during the annual town meeting, set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, at Eddington Elementary School.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the board also:

. Decided to hold a selectmen’s meeting at 6 p.m. Feb. 1 to close the books on 2005 costs, since the town’s fiscal year ends Jan. 31.

. Discussed a project to expand the town office that will be presented to voters at the annual town meeting. Costs are expected to run at least $875,000, town officials said.