Town council OKs airport improvement project

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — A reconstruction project at the Houlton International Airport will hopefully spark additional traffic by corporate or private aircrafts.
    The Houlton Town Council gave its approval to the project at Monday night’s meeting, awarding a bid in the amount of $243,317 for reconstruction of an aircraft tiedown area and taxiway edge lighting improvements to McGillan Inc of Fort Fairfield.
    “The benefit to the town is that it offers visiting aircraft — corporate or private — a more secure parking area when they visit Houlton,” Town Manager Doug Hazlett said. “This will help to attract more aircraft-related business to the airport.”
    Houlton’s share of the reconstruction project is just 2.5 percent ($6,082), with the Federal Aviation Administration picking up the majority of the expense.
    “The FAA requires General Aviation airport to carry what they call an Airport Improvement Account into which certain fees and revenues generated by the airport must be deposited,” Hazlett said. “These funds are then used for such projects, thereby avoiding the need to use tax dollars for this purpose.”
    Hazlett said he expected the project to be started in the coming weeks.
    Councilors also gave their endorsement to buy a 2010 ambulance from Autotronics of Madawaska in the amount of $171,755. The vehicle is a “demo” unit that has about 5,000 miles on the odometer.
    According to Hazlett, the vehicle will replace an existing ambulance that has more than 240,000 miles on it. By purchasing the demo vehicle, the town will save $28,542 over the cost of a new one. To pay for the ambulance, the town will sign a four-year lease/purchase agreement. Money for the purchase was placed into the 2011 budget last fall.
    In other agenda items, the council:
    • Denied a tax abatement request for an undisclosed resident. “It was a request to abate paying their property taxes due to financial hardship,” Hazlett said. “They [the council] found no justification to grant it.”
    • Accepted up to $5,000 from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for multi-jurisdictional ATV law enforcement details with the Maine Warden Service. The funds will be used to pay the cost of Houlton officers assisting the Warden Service.
    • Approved a Special Amusement permit for dancing and entertainment for Gary Dwyer, doing business as Elm Tree North on 282 North St.
    • Renewed a liquor license for Joyce Transue, doing business as Courtyard Café, located at 61 Main St.
    • Accepted the transfer of $4,070 in U.S. and Canadian currency, and a 1994 GMC Sierra truck from the State of Maine Office of the District Attorney as part of seized assets by the state Drug Enforcement Agency. The vehicle is currently in Augusta and will be brought to Houlton, where it will be examined by the town’s public works department to see if it is usable.
    The next regular council meeting will be held Monday, May 23 at 6:30 p.m.