SKOWHEGAN — Residents at a special election Tuesday chose an engineer to fill a vacancy on the Board of Selectmen.
Steve Govoni, 55, will fill the seat with a term expiring next June. The full term for that board position is three years. Govoni received 182 votes while his opponent, Derek Chretien, received 140.
Steve Govoni Contributed photo
Govoni is filling a seat that has been vacant since June following the resignation of longtime Selectwoman Betty Austin. Govoni works in town as a structural engineer at Wentworth Partners & Associates and serves on the Skowhegan Second Bridge Committee, Public Safety Building Committee and the Sidewalk Committee.
Skowhegan voters also passed Maine School Administrative District 54’s referendum question. The measure earmarks $6.97 million for construction and improvement projects across the district.
Tuesday’s election wraps up a special town meeting, held the previous Tuesday, where new ordinances and projects were approved, including a solar project to be built on top of a closed landfill in town.
Voters in MSAD 54 voted 334-110 in support of using federal pandemic relief money to renovate parts of Skowhegan Area Middle School and to complete other work in the district. The district serves the towns of Canaan, Cornville, Mercer, Norridgewock, Skowhegan and Smithfield.
“The bond passed overwhelmingly,” Superintendent Jon Moody said Wednesday. “I’m glad to see such significant support from the community for these important federal COVID-19 projects.”
The district must issue bonds or notes to cover the cost of the projects until the $6.97 million has been received.
At the middle school, an addition will be built on the side of the building facing Route 2, adding four new classrooms. The cafeteria will also be expanded, adding about 1,100 square feet. These additions will allow sixth-grade students at Canaan and Mill Stream elementary schools to relocate to the middle school by the start of the 2023-24 school year.
The money will also be used to make improvements to heating, ventilating and air conditioning system, wiring and windows as well as other renovations at “one or all” of the district’s elementary schools, Moody said. Broadband coverage will also be expanded in the district, he said.
Details on the projects, including timelines, will be “worked out over the coming weeks.”
“We’ll focus on moving as quickly as possible to get these projects in place to support our students,” Moody said.
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