THORNDIKE — Residents have approved the construction of a new salt and sand shed at a cost of approximately $539,000 and work is scheduled to begin in May, Town Clerk Rosemarie Hill said Tuesday.

Thirty-one voters approved the shed at a special town meeting over the weekend. There was one no vote and one invalid, Hill said.

Voters also approved a state revolving fund bond of up to $600,000 to pay for the construction.

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 meeting.

Hill said one person asked at the hourlong meeting Saturday what would happen if the town didn’t build the shed, as stipulated by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. The town would have to pay a fine of approximately $50,000 a day if it did not comply with DEP requirements, Hill explained.

The DEP issued a citation in 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.

The DEP for now is not taking any action against the town because it is in the process of building the shed, Hill said.

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

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