BOWDOINHAM

Bowdoinham officials will hear what the public has to say about its draft Town Meeting warrant tonight, including the proposed $1.6 million budget for 2016-17.

The board of selectmen meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. at the Coombs Municipal Building on School Street. After the public hearing on the draft 39-article warrant for the June 15 Town Meeting, the board will finalize the warrant and proposed municipal budget.

The proposed $1,631,276 municipal spending plan is a $48,960 increase over the town’s current spending plan.

Town Manager Bill Post said there are two borrowing articles on the draft warrant. The town proposes to borrow up to $310,000 to reconstruct 2.2 miles of Pork Point Road between Route 24 and Browns Point Road.

The second is to borrow up to $150,000 to purchase a public works truck. Post said the new truck will replace a 2002 truck which the town purchased used. The new truck will come with a higher life expectancy and significantly less maintenance costs.

The town also proposes to take $100,000 from the undesignated fund balance to pay off a road bond three years early. There is also a proposed article that would take $50,000 from the undesignated fund balance to help reduce the 2017 tax rate.

Selectmen will need to decide if they keep articles on the warrant that would appropriate funds for the Bowdoinham Community Development Initiative and Merrymeeting Arts Center and, if so, how much they recommend the town raise.

The board may also decide to add an article that would ask the town body to appropriate up to $10,000 from the undesignated fund balance to complete construction of a skate park.

The town began raising funds for a skate park more than ten years ago in honor of skateboard enthusiast Matthew Parker. He was 15 in 2005 when he died of encephalitis and many people donated money toward a skateboard park in his memory. The project has gained momentum in the last few years and Post said Monday that the project will get done this year.

The town has received bids for the construction of the skate park and because officials are still negotiating prices, Post said the article may not be needed. He hopes officials have a more firm number tonight.

There are also two proposed minor ordinance amendments on the draft warrant. The first would require a $25 permit from the codes enforcement officer for farm stands rather than planning board review; and clarify setback rules for pools.

The other amendment revises the floodplain management and shoreland zoning provisions by updating the shoreline, based on the latest aerial maps, to comply with state and federal rules, according to town planner Nicole Briand.

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