The Hallowell City Council is scheduled to discuss proposed changes to the road network inside the Stevens Commons campus during its meeting Monday at City Hall.
Stevens Commons owner and developer Matt Morrill has asked council to accept the street network proposed at the 54-acre campus. Morrill’s letter to the council and City Manager Nate Rudy said it’s his intent and desire to modify some of the existing streets and create some new street sections in accordance with Hallowell road design standards.
The budget for the project submitted by Morrill shows a total estimated cost of $756,700, including $452,800 for site work, which includes installing new water service and hydrants, installing a new stormwater retention pond and creating 1,300 linear feet of full-width gravel road sections and sidewalks.
Elsewhere on the agenda, Rudy is expected to appoint Douglas Ide, a Manchester selectman, as the city’s new part-time code enforcement officer. Ide has a background in planning and permitting, Rudy said, and though he has none of the required certifications, he has a year from his start date to acquire them — except he has a six-month window to get certified in plumbing.
Rudy said the state is making such accommodations to help municipalities deal with a shortage of qualified and available inspectors.
Ide will work with Interim CEO Dick Dolby to learn the job and current code issues in Hallowell, and he will maintain part-time office hours at City Hall.
Dolby spent more than 20 years leading the code enforcement office in Augusta and took the Hallowell position after former CEO Maureen Aucoin resigned over the summer.
The biggest item on the agenda was a presentation from the city’s Fire Services Committee, but the committee decided during a public meeting last week to delay making a recommendation to the council.
The five-member committee took questions from an audience of more than 30 people Thursday night and deliberated on the merits of four proposals: contracting with Augusta and disbanding the Hallowell Fire Department, sharing a station with Farmingdale while operating two autonomous departments, building a fire station at the Stevens Commons campus as part of a public safety facility project, and building a fire station and employing two full-time firefighters around the clock.
When it came time to vote, after more than two hours, three committee members wanted to recommend contracting with Augusta, while the other two members wanted to recommend sharing a station with Farmingdale. Despite what appeared to be overwhelming support from the audience for keeping Hallowell’s Fire Department within the city limits, that support didn’t translate to the committee.
Rudy said he would expect the council to address the issue of fire services in some capacity, especially because it was on the agenda and a decision on the city’s fire protection services future still needs to happen sooner rather than later. However, Rudy said he doesn’t think the council will vote on anything about fire services on Monday.
The council meets at 6 p.m. at City Hall, at 1 Winthrop St.
Jason Pafundi — 621-5663
Twitter: @jasonpafundiKJ
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