Cumberland plans this summer to build a new sand and salt shed on land beside the Town Forest, about 1,000 feet back from Tuttle Road. Interior renovations at Town Hall are also on the horizon. Alex Lear / The Forecaster
CUMBERLAND — Construction of a sand and salt shed on property beside the Town Forest and an expansion of the Town Hall Council Chambers are on tap for late summer.
The town is funding the sand and salt shed project, estimated to cost $500,000, and approximately $150,000 to complete the work at Town Hall as part of a $7 million bond the Town Council approved last summer for several facilities improvements and a new fire truck.
The Town Council selected Ledgewood Construction of South Portland as its construction management company for several projects, including the shed and Town Hall. Ledgewood worked with an architect to develop guaranteed maximum costs for the projects, which the Town Council approved unanimously last week during a remote meeting.
Reflecting a request from Councilor Bob Vail “to be able to sit down and review the numbers” since he had yet to be able to receive them via email, the council’s approval is contingent upon analysis of costs by the panel’s Finance Committee.
Sand and salt have been stored beside the town’s Public Works garage on Drowne Road. With space becoming limited there – and residents of the neighboring Village Green housing development criticizing those operations, and a nearby brush and compost dump, as eyesores – the town sought several alternative locations for those operations. Brush and composting has been relocated to town-owned land next to the Town Forest, about 1,000 feet back from Tuttle Road, and the roughly 9,600-square-foot sand and salt shed will be built there, too.
Two Council Chambers walls will be removed to allow for more space during elections and well-attended meetings. The nearly 1,200-square-foot room would be expanded by 551 square feet and a collapsible wall would be used when extra space is not needed, according to Town Manager Bill Shane.
Both projects are slated to begin in August or September and to run eight to 10 weeks.
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