Augusta City Center, shown here in 2020, would get a new roof as part of a $5.5 million bond package that will go to residents for approval at the Nov. 5 election. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file

AUGUSTA — City voters will decide Nov. 5 whether to borrow nearly $5.5 million for a range of capital improvement projects and purchases, from $20,000 for repairs within cemeteries to $200,000 for firefighting gear to $2.1 million for the reconstruction of a section of Church Hill Road.

Under the all-or-nothing voting format the city has used for decades to seek approval for borrowing, voters will not have the option for funding just the new gear for firefighters, for example, but not the the $2.1 million for Church Hill Road.

Residents instead will have to decide whether the city should borrow all of the money, or none of it.

At least one resident wants to change that, and appeared to win the ear of multiple city councilors earlier this month. Ultimately, though, councilors unanimously approved the $5.5 million bond package to go to voters in one referendum question Nov. 5.

Resident Jordan Brandt criticized the city’s process for seeking bond approval, describing it as a disservice to voters because it gives them only two options. He said residents like himself may want to vote for purchasing new gear to make sure firefighters have what they need, but may not be in favor of spending $975,000 for a new roof for Augusta City Center.

“It’d be better to vote on each of these separately, that’d be a better way to handle this process,” Brandt told city councilors Sept. 5 when they approved the bond package. “Why are all these bundled together, and why do we have to look at a separate budget document to see each of these items.”

City officials responded that the city has done it that way it for at least decades, and the wording voters see on the referendum proposals on the ballot is done by bond attorneys to ensure it meets the specific requirements for municipal borrowing proposals. The details of the projects funded by the bond are presented in a document not on the ballot: the city’s capital improvement plan.

“This is the format and process this city has always used to present bonds of this nature; very specific language has to be used,” said Steve Langsdorf, city attorney. “It’s a process that’s been done exactly this way as long as I’ve been (city attorney), for 25 years, and we haven’t been asked to change that process. I’m very comfortable the way this is done.”

Langsdorf acknowledged it would not be illegal to break up the referendum into multiple bond issue votes.

Brandt responded that it thus wouldn’t be illegal, just new to the city. He added that people used to ride horses, but now drive cars.

Church Hill Road in Augusta, pictured last year, would be repaired under a list of capital improvements the city plans to put before voters Nov. 5. The $5.5 million bond package includes $2.1 million for engineering and reconstruction on the road. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file

At-Large City Councilor Courtney Gary-Allen made a motion to table the council’s vote on the bond to provide more time to discuss the issues raised by Brandt. The motion failed, 6-1, after City Manager Jared Mills said any delay would mean the bond referendum wouldn’t be ready in time to appear on the November ballot and the city would have a second straight year of not putting any borrowing proposals before voters for much-needed capital improvement projects.

Multiple city councilors said officials should discuss the bonding referendum process and how the city could be more informative for residents.  They said the city should consider changing the process before another anticipated bond vote likely goes before voters next year.

Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Judkins said information on each item within the bond proposal was discussed at council meetings that were open to the public. He said the bond package includes crucial projects that need to move forward, so he would not support tabling it. But he was among councilors who said the process should be reconsidered before next year, adding, “Maybe this is the last time this is done this way.”

Mills said the city would put information on social media about each of the items that would be funded by the bond package.

They are: cardiac monitors replacement and upgrade, $90,000; fire gear, $200,000; road repair, fencing, signage, trees, and headstones in cemeteries, $20,000; Howard Hill Historic Park access drive and parking area, $300,000; City Center roof replacement, $975,000; Church Hill Road (Route 3 to Vassalboro) engineering/reconstruction, $2.1 million; Front Street wall, $125,000; Ganneston and Parkwood street reconstruction: $1 million; Augusta Civic Center auditorium floor, $300,000; Augusta Civic Center meeting rooms audio visual system upgrade, $40,000; Augusta Civic Center carpet runners, $20,000; Augusta Civic Center banquet chairs for meeting rooms and North Wing, $50,000; Augusta Civic Center parking lot and walkway repaving, $75,000; Augusta Civic Center restroom exhaust fans: $38,000; and Augusta Civic Center north exterior stairs, $150,000.