Roads, sidewalks drive council meeting

   Three residents expressed their differences with the $1,000,000 road improvement loan issue slated for the referendum. With all councilors in attendance, public comments began on how to finance road and sidewalk repair in an atmosphere of basic agreement that something needed to be done – just how to do it was where differing opinions surfaced.
Public comments
Carl Lord said he favored doing road improvement through the budget process and not through a 20-year loan. He also said money for roads had spent on other budget items. Road repair through the Public Works Department, he said, would save money for taxpayers. Additionally, he said more would be accomplished by putting $250,000 a year into Roads 2000 which is overseen by an advisory committee of which he is a member.
Francis Fitzpatrick followed Lord during the public comments portion of the meeting. He said after emergency services he saw roads as the next priority. He questioned whether $1,000,000 would be enough for road improvement. And, he also stated that the jobs should go out for bid to contractors who need work and will “give the best bang for the buck.” He said he disagreed with a zero budget line for road repair.
Philip Bernaiche, also on on the Roads 2000 committee, said he agreed with Lord and Fitzpatrick that $1,000,000 will not go very far to improve the roads. He also said the work should be put out for bid with a list of the roads and sidewalks that need repairs and added that he would probably campaign against the bond issue.
Chairman Paul Cleary later responded that in order to get an earlier grant for sidewalk repair, the list had already been made and “there’s no way we’re  going into this blind without having a plan of what we’re going to do.”
Town Manager Douglas Hazlett responded to public comments from Lord, Fitzpatrick and Bernaiche saying that none of the bond money was intended to go into public works. All of it, he said, will go out for public bidding to benefit local contractors.
Hazlett also said the bond does not eliminate putting the equivalent of one mil into Roads 2000 in the future. Jobs, he said, may be bid as individual contracts or as clusters to address the worst roads and sidewalks so that maintaining them each year “is doable within the one mil allocation.” Currently, one mil is approximately $249,000 according to the town office.
Voters will decide
Cleary and Councilor Paul Romanelli said this was an opportunity to put the issue back into the hands of the voters. Romanelli added that, by rejecting or approving the bond issue, voters will indicate how much they want to repair roads and how much they want to maintain the mil rate of 18.25. He said there would probably be a tax increase if the bond issue does not pass.
Councilor Walter Goodrich said by retiring the current debt, the bond, if passed, would not have a substantial impact on the budget. He also stated that in the current economy, there is a possibility that contractors may make bids in such a way that more may be accomplished to repair roads and sidewalks. Cleary added that without the bond issue, services would have to be cut because “that’s how tight this budget is.”
Councilor Sue Tortello said there is some concern among residents about how much will actually go to roads and sidewalks if the bond passes since the council has not always allocated one mil of the tax revenues to Roads 2000. At that point Cleary said the million dollar bond issue is obligated toward roads and sidewalks.
The first reading of the ballot statement will be at the next council meeting Monday, Feb. 9; the public hearing will be Monday Feb. 23. The entire ordinance will be in the Houlton Town Office during its normal business hours.
Other business
The council voted unanimously as follows:
Parking will be prohibited at all times on both sides of Water Street from Highland Avenue and Mechanic Street west 300 feet to the eastern corner of the town office parking lot entrance. Hazlett said appropriate signage will be erected to further this as a safety measure;
Approval of a victualer’s license for Heidi and Daryl Abbotoni (McDonald’s of Houlton) at 110 North Street;
Authorization of transfer of $40,000 from ambulance revenues to the ambulance  equipment purchase reserves;
Adoption of the Medicare Part B national fee schedule as the basis for Houlton Ambulance fee charges;
Execution of the construction area agreement between Houlton and Maine Department of Transportation for the I-95 project.
Councilor’s remarks
Tortello reminded everyone that Moosestompers Weekend begins Friday, Feb. 6. and she encouraged everyone to participate. Goodrich said that at the Rotary Meeting Jim Brown requested materials for the bonfire.
Charles Upton, who died recently, was remembered by Goodrich and Councilor Nancy Ketch who said he had worked tirelessly and modestly for the good of the town without looking for public credit.
Cleary said the SAD 29 school board had been working on the budget  and was “making hard choice and tough decisions” to avoid tax increases to residents. He said they were doing an excellent job to maintain a high level of education for the students.