WASHINGTON — Selectmen hope voters approve an additional $40,000 for paving so the town can start fixing its roads in a more organized way.

The increase, from $30,000 last year to $70,000 this year, is the biggest change in the budget to be presented Saturday at Town Meeting.

“In the past, we’ve been nitpicking at our roads and doing a little here and a little there,” said Wesley Daniel, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. “We’d like to do a whole road at a time. We feel that it would be cheaper and more economical to do this program where in a 10-year period you can get all the roads done.”

Daniel said the goal is to pave two miles of road per year, probably starting with Bill Luce Road this spring. After that, the roads committee will draw up a priority list to work through.

The budget to be appropriated from local taxes is $678,378, an 8.6 percent increase from 2012’s budget of $624,449.

The paving line accounts for most of the increase. Small raises are also proposed for several town officials, ranging from $250 for some up to $750 for the town clerk.

Fifteen articles on the warrant are proposed amendments to Washington’s mining ordinance. Daniel said the changes would update and clarify the ordinance and were suggested by the town’s Mining Ordinance Review Committee.

Voters also will decide whether to exempt active-duty military personnel from vehicle excise taxes, which many Maine municipalities already do.

“There won’t be that many, anyway, but it’s just one little thing that we can do to help them while they’re on active duty,” Daniel said.

Susan McMillan — 621-5645
smcmillan@mainetoday.com

 

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