Selectmen form budget committee

Staff Report

GREENVILLE — New this year, a five-member budget committee will review the proposed 2016-17 spending plan prepared by Town Manager John Simko and the various department heads and approved by the selectmen. The budget committee will then render recommendations in favor of or opposed to various budget articles to help citizens make their decisions at the annual town meeting on June 6.

The budget committee was formally approved by the selectmen during the board’s March 2 meeting. Serving on the committee will be residents Dennis Bortis, David Burrill, Janet Chasse, Stacey Duncan and Burt Whitman.

Over the ensuing few weeks, the selectmen and Simko will meet with the department heads. At the April 6 meeting, the selectmen are scheduled to approve a budget to then go to the committee for these five members to review.

Several public hearings on the budget and then the town meeting warrant will be held in late April and early May, with the selectmen potentially approving the warrant during a special meeting on the morning of May 6. The 2016 town meeting has been scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday, June 6 in the Louis Oakes Auditorium at Greenville High School.

In other business, the selectmen discussed the concept of a downtown Wi-Fi hotspot through equipment located at the Shaw Public Library.

The Moosehead Lake Region Economic Development Corporation (MLREDC) has been seeking a public wireless Internet zone and the objective was validated through the Roger Brooks Report as an achievable means to make downtown Greenville more visitor-friendly. Working with Axiom Technologies of Machias and Librarian Linda Shaw and officials from the Maine State Library, the MLREDC identified a Wi-Fi hotspot possibility through the use of the Internet connection used by the Shaw Public Library and provided by the Maine State Library Network.

The initial costs for installation and equipment is $2,000, and ensuing years of operations service and maintenance would be $1,000 annually. The cost would be paid for by the MLREDC.

Axiom Technologies is installing and servicing the Wi-Fi system with the town of Greenville, through the Shaw Public Library, hosting the service, which is intended to be established by April 1.