Most residents in Webster were keen to bury the illegal sale of town-owned land on Walker Pond once and for all, and they did just that at Saturday’s town meeting.

“Let’s not go back in time with this thing, OK? It’s done. It was reported, investigated, prosecuted and adjudicated, and the person responsible took responsibility,” resident John Clark said to the voters gathered at the Grange Hall. “None of you have made mistakes before? I sure as hell have.”

The petitioned warrant article that called for the return of two town-owned parcels, each 1.5 acres on Walker Pond Road, was defeated by a tally of 84-33. These parcels were purchased by former selectman and town treasurer Bruce Johnson in October 2019 for $7,000 without open competitive bidding, violating both state law and town policy. The parcels were valued at $44,800.

Although Johnson was found guilty of a Class B misdemeanor in September 2021 and fined $1,200, he still retains ownership of the land and will continue to do so.

Before the warrant article failed, Tara Gunnigle, one of the petitioners, changed the article to shift responsibility to the select board, stating that when the sale was completed, “it was the select board, the seller, that made the mistake. It wasn’t the purchaser that made the mistake; the seller went against our town policies, several policies and against the state RSA.”

If the amendment had passed, the select board would have considered how to best reacquire the property.

Ultimately, the warrant article and the amendment failed, but several voters stood up to support the warrant article.

Guy Larochelle said it was inappropriate for Johnson to retain ownership of the parcels while town taxes climb year after year, especially when the land was sold for $7,000, a significantly low sum for three acres.

The irregularity of the land sale becomes even more apparent when compared to other parcels near Walker Pond that were auctioned off around the same time by the Penacook-Boscawen Water Precinct.

At the time of the illegal sale, other parcels were put up for auction, fetching significantly higher prices. For instance, a nine-acre parcel near to Johnson’s property was sold to Town Clerk Michele Derby for just over $100,000. Derby has since stepped down from the position.

Others pointed out that the land Johnson purchased was set back from the road and wasn’t directly on the 200-acre pond.

“People are tired of public officers and government past and present pulling shenanigans to benefit and line people’s pockets,” said Larochelle. “He has increased the value of his own property because he had buddies on the board that were willing to work with him so he could get this property for basically nothing.”

Several residents blamed the Concord Monitor for its reporting on the issue, calling it sensationalized.

After the issue was put to rest, the remaining warrant articles at the meeting were passed without much controversy.

The $1.82 million operational budget for the town was approved, which is a 6.02% increase over the previous year’s.

“We have consistently had one of the smallest increasing appropriations in 40 municipalities, including last year where it was virtually flat. Unfortunately, much of the funding we had stashed for things like roads needed to be used after the major floods and storms,” said Select Board Chairman David Hemenway.

This year’s key budget drivers are insurance, salary, legal contract renewals and the cost of goods and services.

Four elections in one calendar year also significantly increased costs, said Hemenway.

To replace the heating system in the library and town office, town administrator Dana Hadley proposed an amendment to add $50,000 to the fund for town hall improvements.

Voters unanimously approved the amended warrant article which increased the amount added to the capital reserve funds to $584,100. The purchase of a police cruiser was also approved.

The select board bid farewell to Mike Jette, the town’s moderator, who will be relocating to Massachusetts.

“Thank you for all the time you have done as moderator. We will certainly miss you and, hopefully, you come back and do this again,” said Hemenway.