Maine news, sports, weather from Waterville Morning Sentinel

2013 Town Meetings

March 5

$100K community center roof job the big issue before Rome voters Saturday

By Amy Calder acalder@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

ROME — Voters at Saturday's annual town meeting will consider spending $100,000 to replace the Rome Community Center roof.

The meeting will be at 10 a.m. at the center, with elections from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday in the same building. All races are uncontested.

Third Selectman Paul Anderson said the town last year raised $10,000 toward a new community center roof, so voters on Saturday actually would be asked to appropriate $90,000.

He said the roof of the building, which formerly was a school, was rebuilt about 35 years ago. It is a flat roof, and town officials believe a pitched steel roof is needed.

"I think it's time to do something completely different," Anderson said.

The community center, built in the late 1950s, is on Mercer Road, he said.

The proposed budget is $2.1 million, while last year's budget was $2.2 million, according to Anderson.

He said the current property tax rate of $7.45 per $1,000 worth of valuation would decrease to just more than $7 if voters approve the budget.

It is less than last year's budget because it is costing about 1 percent less to operate and manage the town, and the school budget is expected to decrease about 5 percent, to $1.25 million, he said.

"That's about $85,000 less than what we raised last year," he said. "There's funny things going on in state value assessment and it's caused the town of Rome to pick up less of the school budget than they have in the past."

He noted that the final school budget figure is not yet known. Other towns in Regional School District 18 are Belgrade, Oakland, Sidney and China.

Anderson said if the school budget turns out to be significantly higher than $1.25 million, the town would have to hold a special town meeting to approve that budget.

In Friday's elections, Anderson is running unopposed for his seat, as are First Selectman Kelly Archer and Second Selectman Lesley Real.

Others running for re-election are Road Commissioner Larry Dipietro, Town Clerk Jackie Knight and Tax Collector and Treasurer Shannon Holt. All positions are for one-year terms.

Amy Calder — 861-9247
acalder@centralmaine.com

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