Hebron town meeting set for Saturday

HEBRON —  Voters at the annual town meeting will decide on an estimated $721,212 budget contained in a 63-article warrant, reported Selectboard Chairman Dick Deans at Monday's selectmen meeting. 

Town meeting is this Saturday, March 16 at 10 a.m. at the Hebron Station School. 

According to Deans, the proposed budget does not include the SAD 17 budget, county tax or an article to replace a culvert and reconstruct a bridge on Station Road that could cost more than $21,000. 

Voters at town meeting will decide whether to raise and appropriate $42,000 for the support of the Hebron Fire Department and another $10,000 to the fire truck reserve account, which has a current balance of $20,000. 

Another big expense, said Selectman Dan Eichorn at Monday's meeting, is care and maintenance of winter roads.

According to the town meeting warrant, voters will be asked whether to raise and appropriate $145,000 for winter roads, another $100,000 for summer roads, $100,000 for the tarring/paving account and $185,000 to borrow or bond to purchase a truck for winter and summer road maintenance to replace the 1994 International 10-wheeler. 

In addition, voters will decide on $86,000 for the town's transfer station and whether to raise and appropriate $4,959 for the membership subsidy to Oxford County Regional Recycling. 

The town is also looking to allocate funds received from the sale of land/forest products to the capital reserve account to be used for the future construction of a sand and salt storage building. 

Voters will choose a clerk for the ensuing year; a selectman, assessor, overseer of the poor for a three-year term; a treasurer/tax collector for a one-year term; Moody Library Trustee for a three-year term; a SAD/RSU 17 director for a three-year term; and a road commissioner for a one-year term. 

They will also be asked to change the term of road commissioner from a three-year term to a one-year term; change the position of clerk, tax collector and treasurer from elected to appointed positions, to take effect on January 1, 2014; and choose two budget committee members for a three-year term. 

Joan Clough is seeking reelection as clerk and Dick Deans is seeking reelection as selectman. 

At the March 11 meeting, Eichorn noted the town may need to postpone substantial road projects, including the Station Road bridge, in response to the revenue loss in Governor Paul LePage's proposed 2014-2015 state budget. 

He said the town may need to hold a special town meeting in June to decide whether to cut items in its budget or increase taxes to offset potential losses the town may incur if LePage's budget is passed. 

In other news, the board: 

• Reported that town roads have been posted since March 1. Chairman Dick Deans said, historically, Lane Road gets muddy around this time of year and said the town may need to close it off to local traffic only.