FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — The town of Fort Fairfield has hired a new police officer and set aside more than $400,000 of surplus funds.
At Fort Fairfield’s town council meeting Tuesday Nov. 20, councilors approved the hiring of William Schrader, who begins work as a new police officer on Dec. 7.
Originally from upstate New York, Schrader previously worked for the Fort Fairfield Police Department and has more than three decades of law enforcement experience.
Councilors also approved recommendations from town manager Jim Risner to set aside a budget surplus of $448,499 into various accounts for future use.
The funds set aside include $22,500 for a police cruiser the department will likely purchase in 2020; $19,500 for the town’s community center equipment, furniture and wages; $50,000 for a plow truck in the coming years; $35,400 for road paving; $25,000 for property tax revaluations; $10,000 for playground equipment seed money; $20,000 for sidewalk reserves; and $266,000 in the undesignated reserve account.
Concerning the sidewalks, Risner said, the goal is to set aside money each year in anticipation of participating in the Maine Department of Transportation’s program to have sidewalk reconstruction done along with road work.
“The town has an opportunity to have our sidewalks that are on Maine DOT roads — Main Street, Presque Isle Street and High Street — reconstructed as part of the Maine DOT paving projects at a cost to the town of 20 percent of the total sidewalk reconstruction cost,” Risner said. “It would be approximately $200,000 to the town. The town needs to start putting $20,000 per year into the sidewalk reserves so that when the project comes through — the first is tentatively scheduled for 2023 — we will be ready.”
On the $266,000 in undesignated funds, Risner said the funding should be available as a contingency for the coming years.
One reason is “the uncertainty of ReEnergy’s future in Fort Fairfield,” he said, referring to the recently closed biomass plant in Fort Fairfield. ReEnergy paid approximately $140,000 this year in real estate and property taxes and will continue paying taxes at its current assessment, though the property’s value could change if major equipment is sold, he said.
Risner said he also wants to provide incoming town manager Andrea Powers and the councilors flexibility as they craft the next budget for the fiscal year 2019-2020. Powers starts her work in the position Nov. 26.
The councilors also approved accepting some $876 in donated sports equipment for the recreation department.
Kevin Senal, parks and recreation director, successfully secured the donated sports equipment for youth recreation programming, including portable soccer goal posts, soccer balls and basketballs.
