HERMON, Maine — Residents approved a series of expenditures for local needs ranging from road improvements to education during a special town meeting Thursday night at the Hermon Public Safety Building.
About 20 voters participating in the meeting, Town Clerk Ruth Nickerson said Friday. She said all eight of the articles on the meeting warrant were passed without opposition.
Two of articles were related to roads.
One sought permission to accept a $500,000 matching grant from the Maine Department of Transportation’s Partnership Initiative Grant Program to repair portions of Fuller Road and Klatte Road. The town’s match will come from funds from its Highway Improvement Reserve Account and unrestricted fund balance account.
The other road warrant voters approved appropriates up to $49,000 in tax increment financing revenues for lane improvements within the Route 2 right-of-way near Bangor Drive-In and Freedom Park.
Other items addressed local education. Voters agreed to:
— Appropriate up to $1,188,755 from the Hermon School Department’s unrestricted fund balance to put into its school capital project reserve account. The funds will be used for school capital improvements.
— Authorize the use of some of the school department’s unrestricted fund balance at the end of the 2015-16 fiscal year to cover school accrued salaries. This would cover the amount of salaries and benefits owed after June 30 to teachers who choose to accept their pay over 12 months instead of taking it all during the school year. In 2014-15 the amount designated for accrued salaries was $825,000.
— Appropriate $567,278 from the $908,000 that was returned to the town by the Maine Public Employees Retirement system and deposit it into the School Capital Project Account to cover the cost of improvements needed at the elementary school.
— Deposit up to $292,234 more from the public employees retirement refund to the Elementary School Reserve Account for capital improvements that would benefit the town’s recreation program.
— Use up to $36,000 from the public employees retirement fund to pay for Hermon School Department’s share of Maine State Retirement for employees participating in the Maine State Employees Retirement Consolidated Plan for the 2015-16 fiscal year.
Finally, residents voted in favor of applying up to $2,500 from the town’s Credit Reserve Account toward the cost of the software and hardware needed to operate a GIS mapping program.