CHELSEA — Selectmen at a special town meeting Wednesday will ask for permission to transfer more than $22,000 between accounts to cover the cost of road maintenance.

The meeting is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. at the Chelsea Elementary School.

Town Manager Scott Tilton said officials want to transfer $22,507 or less from the summer roads account to the winter roads account.

State law allows local road accounts to overdraft money by up to 15 percent, Tilton said, and that equals $22,507 in the town’s case. Permission is also needed from voters.

He said the town only budgeted $100,000 last year to plow the roads, but when the contract went out to bid, no one said they could do the job for that amount.

The lowest bid came in at $115,000, he said. The town also bought sand and salt for the roads.

Advertisement

Tilton said municipal officials once had the authority to transfer money without townspeople’s say-so.

“The article to do that was removed from last year’s town meeting warrant because it was being used by prior select boards to fund a lot of overdrafts, which cost the town a lot of money,” he said. “This keeps the town more informed and makes me and the select board more accountable.”

In addition, Tilton said he is seeking five people to serve on the town’s Community Development Block Grant Committee.

Also, he said the Board of Assessors will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Monday at the Town Office to review abatements. The board also will review proposals sent in by firms to do a town-wide property tax revaluation.

Mechele Cooper — 621-5663

mcooper@centralmaine.com


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.