SIDNEY — The Board of Selectmen will hold a public hearing tonight at 6 in the Town Office.

A representative from Kennebec Valley Gas Co. will present information on the proposed formation of a tax increment financing district, said Board Chairman John Whitcomb.

The TIF district would help fund the development of a natural gas pipeline from Richmond to Madison. A 9 mile segment of the line is slated to run through Sidney.

Under a TIF agreement, a portion of the property taxes paid to Sidney would be diverted back to the pipeline developer at decreasing increments for 15 years.

Richard Silkman, partner at Kennebec Valley Gas Co., has said the construction of the pipeline isn’t economically feasible without TIF districts. Voters in Farmingdale, however, rejected a TIF for the company at a special town meeting Saturday. Madison officials have previously said the two miles the pipeline would run in its town is too small a project to consider a TIF.

The remainder of the company’s taxes would fund town projects. Whitcomb said the board has proposed to spend the money to pay down debt on First Park, a multi-muicipality economic development project in Oakland. Then, the TIF money would fund repairs to Shepard Road, Quaker Road and Goodhue Road.

Voters will be asked to vote on the issue early next year. A date hasn’t been set yet, Selectman Red Laliberte said.

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