THORNDIKE — Residents will vote on what kind of sand and salt shed to build and how to pay for it during a special town meeting at the Thorndike Town Office at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Voters approved the long-contested sand and salt shed last year at the annual Town Meeting but cost estimates have since increased. Selectmen will ask residents to decide between a prefabricated shed or a conventionally built structure, which is cheaper by about $42,500.

The shed approved last year was a steel-frame prefabricated building with a poured concrete foundation, then estimated to cost $423,000. A conventional structure was also an option, but was more expensive at $467,000.

Both options being presented Saturday are higher in cost, with the prefabricated building estimated at nearly $582,000 and the conventional construction shed estimated at around $539,000.

Voters on Saturday will also decide whether to approve a state revolving fund bond of up to $600,000 to pay for construction of the shed.

The total estimated debt service on the bond is $681,539, which includes $49,114 in interest at a rate of 1% over 30 years, as well as Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Maine Municipal Bond Bank fees, according to the warrant for the special town meeting.

The DEP issued a citation in early 2019 claiming the town’s stockpile of salt and sand at 95 Unity Road contaminated Hall Brook Stream. The town paved a new site for the shed behind the post office on Mill Road in November 2019 but never constructed the building.

At the 2020 annual Town Meeting, voters declined to approve a $400,000 bond to fund the construction.

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