Dover-Foxcroft town meeting set for April 25

By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — On Saturday, April 25 at 9 a.m. in the gymnasium at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building, residents will vote on nine articles making up the warrant for the annual town meeting. Items approved then go out to a referendum ballot to be decided at the polls on Tuesday, June 9 at the municipal office. The town meeting warrant was formally signed by the selectmen during an April 13 meeting.

    Six articles concern the 2015-16 budget, with the total gross appropriations proposed equaling just under $4,239,000 or a 4 percent increase from the current year. After over $1,156,400 in non-property tax revenues have been accounted for, the net budget equals slightly more than $3,082,400 (a 2.4 percent increase).
    The selectmen also certified the text for a pair of non-budgetary warrant items. One concerns shoreland zoning ordinance amendments and the other asks if a traffic incident ordinance shall be enacted.
    In other business, the board approved a series of bids on tax–acquired properties per the recommendations of the administrative committee. “It looks like we had seven go out to bid and six received bids,” Town Manager Jack Clukey said, saying a quarter-acre parcel on Dwelley Avenue was the property that had no bids.
    When asked about the bid process and pricing, Clukey said, “I think it just comes down to the situation. What we do is ask for the bidder to tell us about their plan for the property.” For one lot, part of the agreement is for the new owner to remove a trailer no later than Sept. 1 as part of the $750 price.
    “The week of May 17-23 is Maine Arbor Week and as part of our Project Canopy projects and Tree City we recognize it,” Clukey said, saying the town has done several plantings in recognition in recent years. The selectmen moved to formally proclaim the week of May 17-23 as Arbor Week in Dover-Foxcroft.
    In his town manager’s report, Clukey said the residential and office spaces at the Riverfront Redevelopment Project are scheduled to be complete by the middle of next month. “Moosehead, it’s looking really good from the outside and it’s looking even better on the inside,” he said.
Clukey reported that the updates to the hydro facility are expected to be completed by the end of the year. He said the restaurant space will be finished in conjunction with the lease agreement with a restaurant operator (at the moment there is not a tenant for the restaurant).
    In response to Selectman Ernie Thomas’ question about traffic flow for the redevelopment project, Clukey said, “The site plan traffic flow is in off by the brick building and coming out by the town parking lot by the church on West Main Street. It is not specifically one way.”
    Select Chair Elwood Edgerly added that tractor trailer trucks used to enter and exit the existing driveway, but traffic patterns can be examined in the future.
    Saturday, May 2 will be a “free day” at the solid waste facility, as Clukey said certain items and in some specific quantities will be able to be dropped off free of charge on this date. Among the free items are four or fewer 20-inch tires without rims, two pieces of stuffed furniture and two TVs and/or computer monitors.
    With Memorial Day falling on the board’s second regularly scheduled May date, the selectmen will instead be meeting on Wednesday, May 27 at 6:30 p.m. This date avoids a conflict with the RSU 68 district budget session the previous evening.