The Town Council invites public input on capital spending and Main Street plans.

The Freeport Town Council was scheduled to conduct public hearings this week on the proposed capital budget for 2016, and on a contract-zoning request to construct a building between 56 and 58 Main St.

The Tuesday meeting was held after the Tri-Town Weekly publication deadline.

The Town Council is scheduled to vote on the $2.5 million capital budget on April 14. It then becomes part of the municipal budget, and could be subject to change in June.

The capital budget includes a $196,000 request for a new ambulance; $430,000 for reconstruction of Litchfield Road; $135,000 for drainage work on roads in South Freeport; and $150,000 for closure of the town landfill.

A company called Denney Block Freeport LLC has purchased the downtown block from 56 to 66 Main St. from Freeport business pioneer George Denney, and wants to construct a building in vacant space between 56 and 58 Main St. Berenson Associates of Boston, which built Freeport Village Station, is the parent company of Denney Block Freeport LLC. Berenson, adhering to tradition, began using the Denney Block name in February when the company applied for site plan and design approval, according to town records.

“The town has known that property as Denney Block for a number of years,” said Sean Selby, Berenson Associates’s architect.

The Town Council approved the concept of contract zoning, which bypasses the more traditional zoning amendment, earlier this year. The Planning Board and the Project Review Board both have approved contract zoning, and on Tuesday night it went back to the council for approval of the enactment of a contract zone, for a so-called “infill development.”

The contract zone would allow the developer to bypass the town’s height limit on a building there, which is 35 feet. Company officials have said that because of the downward slope of the property, a 43-foot building will be needed in order to reach the level of existing buildings at street level.

The new building would be located between Fiore Artisan Oils & Vinegars and Dooney & Bourke, and would displace Fiore, if site plan and design plan permits are approved by the Project Review Board. The company wants to remove the jut-out at 58 Main St., where Fiore is located, in order to accommodate the new building. The site plan and design plan applications are not yet on the Project Review Board agenda for April or May.

The developer hopes to lease retail space at the basement level and first floor of the new building, and is contemplating a third-floor restaurant/bar. The restaurant would feature an overhang over the next building at 56 Main St., a shorter brick building occupied by Sperry Top-Sider and Jill McGowan.

Denney Block Freeport LLC has purchased the downtown block from 56 to 66 Main St. from George Denney, and is looking to move forward on contract zone approval to construct a building in the vacant space between 56 and 58 Main St. File photo