Public hearing on 2014-15 budget set for tonight

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — During the month of March the Dover-Foxcroft Budget Advisory Committee has been meeting weekly with department heads and town officials to discuss various aspects of the spending plan for the 2014-15 fiscal year. The next step in the budget process is set for Wednesday, April 2 when a pubic hearing is held at 6:30 p.m. in the meeting room at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building.

    The selectmen signed the notice for the public hearing during their meeting on March 24. Town Manager Jack Clukey said the Budget Advisory Committee was scheduled to meet with the selectmen two days later to go over the budget prior to the public hearing.
    Comments made at the April 2 hearing will be taken into account prior to the annual town meeting on Saturday, April 26 at 9 a.m. in the gym at the municipal building. Articles passed on April 26 then go to the referendum ballot to be decided by Dover-Foxcroft voters on Tuesday, June 10.
    While the town is readying its budget for the ensuing fiscal year, RSU 68 officials are doing likewise with the school spending plan. Clukey said the district usually holds a budget public hearing and meeting on the fourth Tuesday of the month.
    With the selectmen’s second monthly meeting, held on the fourth Monday, set to fall on Memorial Day in 2014 the selectmen looked to reschedule to avoid a conflict with the holiday. As of now the board is set to meet on Wednesday, May 28, so residents can attend both their session and the RSU 68 budget meeting. Clukey said if the school unit’s district meeting ends up being scheduled for Wednesday then the selectmen would likely meet Tuesday evening instead.
    “We do most of our economic development through the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council (PCEDC),” Clukey said in presenting his town manager’s report. “We have a property owner in town who would like to expand his business with grass-fed cattle and sell to large markets.”
    Clukey said a letter of intent by the PCEDC, on behalf of the town, for Brian Grosse of BS Farms on the Shamrock Road has been submitted to the state’s economic redevelopment program. The application would seek up to $90,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds for business assistance. If awarded the funding would create three jobs, as per the stipulations one position needs to be created for every $30,000 awarded.
    “We are nearing the end of a long process to upgrade our wastewater collection system,” Clukey said. He said the last piece is the main pump station at the treatment plant. Bids for these upgrades were due on March 27 to allow for awarding of the work in April and completion of the project at the end of August or the beginning of September.
    On Saturday, May 3 the town and Foxcroft Youth Sports are scheduled to host a Major League Baseball Pitch, Hit and Run competition at 9 a.m. on the campus of Foxcroft Academy for boys and girls ages 7-14. “It’s free, it’s no cost and they can hit, pitch a ball and run from second to home and be timed,” Clukey said.