By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer 

NAPLES — The funding piece of a local construction project is being locked into place. The Town of Naples will borrow more than $1 million from the Maine-grown lending institution, Norway Savings Bank. The construction project to be funded is at the intersection of Routes 302 and 35, where the only traffic signal in Naples is located.

“We should be closing on the loan the first week of March, and will then have access to draw down funds as we need to,” Naples Town Manager John Hawley said this week.

The project includes the replacement of the traffic signal, pedestrian cross-walk signals, and aligning the business exit on the other side of Route 302 with Route 35. The engineering plan calls for drainage improvements, a right-hand turning lane from Route 35 to Route 302, plus crosswalks and sidewalks for pedestrian safety.

On Jan. 24, the Naples Board of Selectmen awarded the bond bid to Norway Savings Bank. The town plans to borrow approximately $1,074,000. With Norway Savings Bank, the interest will be 2.59%, which will result in the town paying a total interest cost of $206,532. The loan repayment duration will be 15 years.

According to Hawley, the town sent out four referrals for proposals (RFPs), and three bid proposals were returned. “TD Bank opted not to bid because they won’t bid out this amount of money for longer than 10 years,” he said.

Prior to the vote, Selectman Bob Caron II asked why the Maine Bond Bank was not an option.

The Maine Bond Bank “only accepts applications twice a year,” Hawley said. The flexibility of when a loan can be applied for is “the reason we like going with banks.”

This spring, when the groundbreaking starts, it will be the beginning of something long discussed. Even before the old bridge was replaced in 2010-11, there had been talk about improving the intersection at Junction 35 along Route 302. For the past decade, the traffic signal has been on the fritz.

The Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) will be paying a portion of total cost. The state will pay $370,000. Originally, that was 50% of the total cost. However, town officials decided to add items to the construction project and hired the engineering firm Milone & MacBroom, Inc. The town and the state had already signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) by the time the final costs were unveiled. Then, voters at the 2019 town meeting approved floating a bond in the $1,000,000 range to complete this construction project.

At the beginning of 2020, the selectmen awarded the job to J. Pratt Construction. “Contracts have been signed with the contractor and work will begin this spring when weather and ground conditions permit,” Hawley said.

At this year’s town meeting, as part of a housekeeping Warrant Article, the voters will be asked whether or not to accept the land agreements which give rights-of-way (ROWs) for this construction project.