In the absence of a big-ticket proposal to revamp the town offices – like the plans Epsom voters registered their disapproval for in each of the past three years – the deliberative session passed by Saturday with no amendments and little debate.
The warrant takes a different tack this year by asking voters to squirrel money away in two accounts that could eventually be used to build a new town office and overhaul a historic town-owned church, known as the meetinghouse.
In three straight years, competing proposals approaching $1 million each sought to accomplish those tasks in one fell swoop – twice for the meetinghouse overhaul and once for a new building next to the police station.
Although the new construction came close, each plan proved divisive and none were able to secure the necessary majority vote. So, as Epsom continues to pay roughly $40,000 a year to rent office space in a strip mall, the town has retooled its ask.
Article 9 seeks to create a new account “for the purpose of all expenses associated with acquiring and outfitting a future Town Office” and put $50,000 in it from the town’s unassigned fund balance. That money has already been raised through taxes, but hasn’t been spent, so it would have no effect on future tax bills.
Similarly, Article 10 seeks to create a new account “for the purpose of maintenance, repair and rehabilitation of Town owned land and buildings” and put $100,000 from the unassigned fund balance and $50,000 to be raised by taxation. The estimated tax impact is 12 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, or $24 for the owner of a $200,000 home.
Although the money in Article 10 isn’t earmarked for any building in particular, Selectman Hugh Curley said he was looking at the meetinghouse.
“Is this a way that we can get something moving there? We’ve had a couple of different warrant articles that have come forward to have it as a town office building, and they have not passed,” he said.
“It’s still there, and it’s a reminder every day of what we haven’t done,” Curley added.
Both articles were recommended by the selectmen and budget committee. Resident Keith Cota said he hopes the townspeople can come together and begin planning an agreeable way to move out of the rented office.
“Let’s get a consensus as to what we want to do,” he urged.
An unrelated article seeking to replace the fire station’s oil boiler could bring on a complicated situation if it’s voted down.
Article 8 seeks to use money from a fire department trust fund to install a new propane-fired unit, Chief Stewart Yeaton said. But if voters reject the $15,000 article, the town will be bound by the negative vote and won’t be allowed to buy a propane unit, even using money from another source.
If the aging boiler were to break, the town would have to appeal to the Department of Revenue Administration for permission to buy a propane unit, Finance Administrator Nancy Wheeler said.
Otherwise, Yeaton said he could fix the old boiler, but “it could get expensive.”
The school district’s deliberative session is set for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Epsom Central School.
(Nick Reid can be reached at 369-3325, nreid@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @NickBReid.)