The Wiscasset selectmen approved six budget items to go before voters at a special town meeting Sept. 11.

The town's Budget Committee will review the articles Thursday, July 19. Members of that committee were present at the July 17 Board of Selectmen's meeting, when the selectmen approved the warrant.

The six-article warrant includes one article to elect a moderator – the only article the Budget Committee members did not question or disagree with at the July 17 meeting.

Article 2 asks for 3/12 of the previous year’s budget to be spent if a budget fails did not sit well with Budget Committee member Robert Blagden. He said the article should be taken off the warrant.

Article 3 asks the voters to raise and appropriate $48,674 for the code enforcement officer’s budget. This amount cuts his hours from 32 hours a week to 25 hours.

This cut is not enough for Budget Committee member Norman Guidiboni, he felt that 20 hours a week would be enough.

Budget Committee member William Barnes agreed that 20 hours would be enough for the code enforcement officer. “The town would survive without a CEO, and the town would not shut down without a police department,” Barnes said.

Article 4 asks for $50,000 to be raised and appropriated for the contingency fund, a decrease from $60,000 that was defeated in the June 12 vote. The need for that amount of money was questioned by several Budget Committee members.

The selectmen told the Budget Committee there was going to be a need for a sum of money from contingency that they were unable to disclose at this time.

Article 5 asks for $5,000 for Lincoln County Television, a decrease from $7,000 that was defeated in the June election.

This was questioned by Blagden. He asked why the board was bringing back a simple donation request; it had never been done before.

Selectmen Pam Dunning and Ed Polewarczyk both defended the article, saying that the Lincoln County television is a real benefit to the residents of Wiscasset.

“We are asking for the same amount the voters approved last year,” Dunning said. “If it fails again I would not recommend bringing it back.”

“I would hope that if any of these items failed they wouldn’t be brought back for the third time,” Blagden said.

Other business

The town received three bids for the ambulance maintenance ranging in price from $78,244 to $70.188. The selectman authorized the town manager to award the bid to the lowest qualified bidder.

The town manager discussed closing the town office for three to four hours one day a week to allow the office staff to catch up on their work that is backlogged.

Smith suggested not opening until 11 a.m. or noon on Wednesdays. Selectman Judy Colby suggested the office close in the afternoon, to allow residents who do their business in the morning to have access to the office.

No decision was made as to when the office will close for those extra hours, but the selectmen did agree it needed to be done.

The board agreed to follow the advice of their attorney in a complaint involving water runoff from the Langdon Road on to a home on Route 218. Since it is private property, public money cannot be used.

Several appointments were made to town committees, and several vacancies still exists. There are openings in the Board of Appeals, Budget Committee, Appearance Committee, and others. Anyone interested in serving on a town committee is asked to come into the town office and pick up an application.