HERMON, Maine — Residents overwhelmingly voted in favor of funding the local portion of planned improvements for the section of Route 2 that runs through the town’s village district during a special town meeting Thursday night.
About 75 residents attended the meeting, Town Manager Roger Raymond said Friday.
Raymond said that work is scheduled to begin next spring and that the goal is to have the sidewalks completed in time for the start of the next school year.
During the meeting, residents agreed to apply up to $385,000 from the town’s tax-increment financing revenue pool to the last of three phases of improvements to Route 2 that will be done next year, according to a letter the Town Council sent to residents.
The two other phases of work were funded earlier, mostly with federal and state dollars.
Among other things, the improvements will provide for a better design for a tricky intersection, a new sidewalk connecting with the Billings Road sidewalk and extending all the way to Danforth’s Plaza, new drainage and granite curbing, four pedestrian crosswalks with a pedestrian signal light at Hermon High School and paved road shoulders.
The improvements will fulfill several aspects of the Village Master Plan residents adopted in 2009 as a way to create a pedestrian-friendly town center that complements the rural character residents want to retain.
Also during Thursday’s special town meeting, voters approved three school-related items:
— A $12,500 transfer from the school department’s unassigned fund balance to its unanticipated tuition reserve account.
— An $80,000 transfer from the school department’s unassigned fund balance to its school bus purchase reserve account.
— The transfer of $150,000 from the school department’s unassigned fund balance to its school capital improvement reserve account for planned improvements at Hermon Elementary School.