EUSTIS – Voters will convene on Saturday for what will hopefully be a socially-distant, but otherwise normal, town meeting. Chair of the Selectboard Steve St. Jean said they plan to conduct the meeting as usual at the Stratton-Eustis Community Building, beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 6.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had more than 50 people show up for Town Meeting, but if we do we’ll have to shut it down and do something different,” he said.
St.Jean is up for reelection this year and is running unopposed. Elections for town officials will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, also at the Community Building. In addition to St.Jean, Planning Board member Lori Lemont and MSAD 58 School Board member Sue Fotter will also be running for reelection unopposed. All positions are for a three-year term.
Voters will weigh in on a proposed $10,770 increase from last year’s budget of $1.21 million. The increase includes a requested $5,000 increase for the town’s Fire Department to cover additional per diem hours. A proposed increase in the Transfer Station budget covers the remaining $5k; according to St.Jean those increases are due to a rise in cost of business.
Not included in the overall budget is funding for a proposed School Street sidewalk extension that, if approved, would be partially funded by the Maine Department of Transportation. Voters will weigh in on whether or not the town should apply for the grant on Saturday. If passed, town officials would then apply for the grant. The grant would cover 80 percent of costs for the five-year project, which would begin in 2025 St.Jean said. The town would be required to pay $25,000 per year for each year of that agreement, while the USDA would put in $125,000 per year.
