FARMINGTON – Selectmen met Tuesday despite an icy evening for the first round of revisions to the annual budget requests from municipal departments. The board also approved having Town Manager Richard Davis enter into an agreement with Central Maine Power to switch the town’s streetlights to LED models, reviewed a draft lease for the Anson Street parking lot and approved a $100,000 recommendation from the Downtown TIF Advisory Committee.
After completing Phase 1 of the Front Street Renovation Project, the Downtown TIF Advisory Committee is recommending the installation of 27 light fixtures using $100,000 from the TIF Reserve Account. The account is currently at a balance of $44,000 but is usually replenished annually with roughly $125,000 according to Davis. An estimate of $72,000 was given for 24 lights and Davis said he would be getting an updated estimate for three more. The board approved the recommendation.
In other illuminating news, the town will be switching all streetlights over to LED bulbs after Davis received approval to do so from board members. Davis said the town will save $22,000 each year with the new fixtures. Installation isn’t expected to happen until July.
A draft lease for the town to use the Anson Street parking lot was reviewed by the board; it will be presented to Franklin County Commissioners at their next meeting. The idea for the lease came from an increase in parking needs downtown due largely to several new businesses. The commissioners have already agreed to try out the new parking arrangement for two years, with the option of resigning the lease for 20 years if all goes well. The town will adopt responsibility of plowing, sweeping, striping and pot hole patching. The lot will be vacated on days that court is in session. The lot will also be closed from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Sundays throughout the winter for snow removal.
Department heads presented their budget requests to the board which will then be reviewed by the budget committee. Increases were primarily due to the state’s increased minimum wage. Appropriations would see a 5.5 percent increase from the current fiscal year if the budget passed as requested, although that is prior to any board and Budget Committee reductions.
Did Farmington sign into a contract with the led lights like Wilton has been reported to be considering?
3 thousand dollars per light?? $$$$$$WOW$$$$$$
Why has Farmington agreed to a price from CMP that is 3 times the market rate? Rumford paid quite a bit less putting downtown out to bid