NEWRY — Residents voted Tuesday at the annual town meeting to authorize the Board of Selectmen to issue a bond not to exceed $850,000 to pave Sunday River Road from Monkey Brook Road.

Earlier in the meeting, residents voted to allow selectmen to take $150,000 from the capital improvement account to pave a section of Sunday River Road.

Town Administrator Amy Bernard told residents that the $150,000 would be earmarked for the section of Sunday River Road between Monkey Brook Road and the Letter S area.

“That won’t be enough money to do that portion of the road, so later in the warrant, we’ll have a chance to talk about how we want to pave the road, and how we’re going to pay for it,” Bernard said.

During a previous meeting, the board learned that to pave and improve the section of Sunday River Road would cost $850,000 at most.

Code Enforcement Officer Dave Bonney said if paving and contracting costs come in low, the project could cost $660,000.

“$850,000 is at the worst end of things,” Bernard said. “It could cost less. The board said they wanted to bring the issue to voters and let them decide if they want to do it all at once, break the project out over time, and whether they want to get a bond or do it without a bond.”

Selectwoman Wendy Hanscom described the $150,000 article as a “down payment on the paving project, in case we don’t approve the road bond later in the warrant.”

Residents ended up overwhelmingly approving the road bond.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net