LINCOLNVILLE — Lincolnville voters approved expanding a cramped town office, voting 806 to 613 in favor of the $690,000 project.

Proposed improvements include an improved lobby and sitting area, with more privacy; a new assembly and meeting space for boards and committees; a map room; public restrooms; and a more efficient and effective work space for employees.

The Municipal Building Committee anticipates that the cost to taxpayers would break down as follows: "A property owner with property assessed at $200,000 pays $14.50 per year in taxes to support the Town Office renovation in the form of the Town’s $30,000 annual contribution to the Capital Investment Reserve Account. If the project moves forward as proposed, the $30,000 set aside for the Town Office will not be sought. Instead, the Town will take on an annual debt payment. The annual debt payment on borrowing $220,000 has been estimated to be $15,998 over a 20-year period. Therefore, the same property owner will be contributing about $7.73 in taxes per year for debt service. The net result is an overall savings of $6.77 per year."

The warrant article
“To see if the Town will vote to appropriate $470,000 from the Capital Investment Reserve Account and to authorize the issuance of up to $220,000 in general obligation bonds or notes for the renovation and expansion of Town Office and to pay for costs of engineering, survey, design and other related costs of such construction, hereby authorized and appropriated, all as determined to be appropriate by the Board of Selectmen, with the dates, maturities, denominations, interest rate(s) and other details of the bonds or notes to be determined by the Board of Selectmen (including provisions that the notes or bonds may be prepaid or subject to call for redemption with or without premium); and to accept gifts or grants from non-Town sources for this purpose.”

Board of Selectmen recommends a “YES” vote

Budget Committee recommendsa“YES” vote

Municipal Building Committee recommends a “YES” vote

Plans are available for review at the town office website, or at the town office itself.

According to the committee, the existing town office: "has serious legal and practical deficiencies that need to be addressed. The building is not accessible to the disabled, and does not meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Moreover, its small size, limited lobby space and service area, and existing floor plan does not allow employees to work efficiently or residents to conduct business privately and confidentially. Quite simply, the town has outgrown the facility.

"Twice before, Lincolnville townspeople voted down more expensive options for a new town office. The selectmen and the Municipal Building Committee heard you, and since those votes, have continued to work on finding a more cost-effective solution. We are now recommending that the town keep the existing Town Office, using it for general office space, while adding a new wing that will meet accessibility requirements and provide better, more functional space for public use."

The project is anticipated to cost $690,000, of which the town has set aside $470,000, leaving $220,000 to be financed.

"Through the competitive bidding process, the Municipal Building Committee is hopeful the total cost will be less than $690,000," the town said.

Lincolnville has been wrestling with the future of its town office, constructed in the 1980s just west of Lincolnville Central School on Route 235 in Lincolnville Center. While it was spacious two decades ago, the meeting room was subsequently appropriated for police and town manager offices, and storage room. The building is too small and unable to meet building and compliance codes, according to a 2009 Municipal Buildings Committee report, which recommended expansion.

But with a recession and skeptical town sentiment, the selectmen opposed placing more fiscal strain on taxpayers and chose not to place the $522,188 project before voters.

In March 2010, the selectmen asked the committee, which had been busy requisitioning contractors for a new fire station, to turn attention back to the town office project. The selectmen figured that lower interest rates and recession-priced construction costs signaled the right time to jump-start the process. They asked the committee to reexamine options for the town office.

This year, the committee said that 10 years of discussion has been long enough and the town should pursue making its town office compliant with federal regulations, and serve community needs for the next 20 to 25 years.

"Given the present low interest rates and the number of qualified contractors who are looking for more work, now is an opportune time to improve the Town Office," the committee said in its flyer. "By seeking competitive bids, the Municipal Building Committee hopes the project will actually come in less than the total amount estimated, which would mean the total amount to be financed would also be less.... If voters approve the project on November 6, bid packages will be sent out and a contractor selected this winter, with construction to start in the early spring. The renovations and new addition would be completed by fall 2013."