FARMINGTON -- Farmington voters defeated a ballot question Tuesday by just 137 votes that would have authorized the town to build a 9,000-square-foot police station.

The vote was 1,627-1,490, according to Town Clerk Leanne Pinkham.

The project had the backing of the Board of Selectmen and the Budget Committee, and would have provided the 14-member Police Department with space for offices, storage, interview rooms, a conference room, and a workout area. The building would have gone up on land the town owns on High Street and Farmington Falls Road.

Currently, the department occupies 1,500 square feet in the Farmington Municipal Building.

The ballot asked voters to approve a $2.5 million bond for the project, which Town Manager Richard Davis had calculated would have had an annual tax effect of $50 on a property valued at $100,000.

"I am disappointed, but I think people were concerned with the economy and with taking on additional debt," Davis said late Tuesday evening. "They may have just felt they have had enough of borrowing."

The close vote shows there is still support for the project, but it will be up to the Board of Selectmen to decide the next move.

"The vote represents the wishes of the people, and the board will need to decide whether they want to revisit the other properties we looked at or want to wait until the economy improves to try again," he said. "The options we presented were well-researched, would have met the needs of the department into the middle of this century, and were economical."

The board and a citizens advisory committee had looked at several vacant commercial buildings as an alternative to building a new facility. Either the rent was too high, such as at the former Rite Aid store on Wilton Road; or the cost of renovating an industrial space, such as the former Franklin Shoe on High Street, would have been prohibitive.

Another site studied was the former University of Maine Cooperative Extension office, next to the Town Office on Farmington Falls Road, which is owned by the University of Maine at Farmington. Officials determined the space was too small.

Betty Jespersen -- 778-6991

bjespersen@centralmaine.com