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Farmington board endorses GFDC funding request

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The Farmington Board of Selectmen.

FARMINGTON – Selectmen voted to endorse a request to the County Commissioners to fund the Greater Franklin Development Council out of the county’s Tax Increment Financing account at Tuesday night’s board meeting as well as set the date for Town Manager Richard Davis’ annual review.

Historically, GFDC received $60,000 from the county, with half of that amount appropriated from the TIF account. In recent years that number was reduced to $42,000 before being cut completely for the current fiscal year.

In a letter to selectmen, GFDC Executive Director Charlie Woodworth asked the board to contact the commissioners to express their support for having GFDC receive the $40,000 to get the organization through this fiscal year. Woodworth noted in the letter that neighboring county organizations in Oxford, Somerset and Piscataquis received an average of $130,000.

Despite the reduction in county support, GFDC was able to leverage $150,000 for broadband and $70,000 for operations, according to Woodworth.

“We can be busy fundraising to keep our office open or, if we are funded similarly to our neighbors, my office can put our time into designing projects and finding funding to support our county development and growth,” Woodworth wrote.

The request for support went to several communities in the county, Davis said. At Monday evening’s Jay Board of Selectpersons meeting, the board agreed to discuss it at their next meeting later this month.

Selectmen at the Farmington meeting unanimously approved endorsing the request, noting the work that GFDC has been doing for the town, particularly in regards to the broadband implementation efforts.

In other business, Town Manager Richard Davis will be reviewed by the selectmen on Sept. 25 during an executive session. Davis will be evaluated based on the following criteria: relationships with the boards, leadership of the municipality, external relationships, personal and professional characteristics and progress towards goals.

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1 Comment

  1. I am pleased to see that Mr. Woodworth made a very important request for appropriate funding from the County Commissioners, and, I’m even more pleased that the Farmington Board of Selectment are supporting this request. It is particularly important in these times to be investing in the economic future of Franklin County and I definitely believe Mr. Woodworth needs the financial support to do so.

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