Old-school democracy – town and school meetings – returns to the Granite State this month, leading through Election Day on March 8.
Residents in two Suncook area towns will consider converting old spaces into new hubs of municipal operations during deliberative sessions held on Saturday.
In Epsom, voters will be asked to spend $1.2 million to convert the old town hall on Route 4 into a new town hall. Currently town offices are located in a strip mall at the traffic circle at the intersection of Route 4 and Route 28.
In Allenstown, residents will be asked to purchase the elementary school for $1 in order to covert it into a new town hall once construction of the new K-8 school on River Road is complete. The current town hall is located in an old library on School Street.
Neither project will receive final approval Saturday. Both towns have a split town meeting schedule – known as SB2 – where residents deliberate and can alter warrant articles at one meeting, then come together and vote by secret ballot on election day.
Towns that hold traditional town meetings, deliberate and vote at a single gathering, usually in March.
Here’s a rundown of top items under consideration:
Converting the school to a new town hall and community center with available business space will certainly cost more than the $1 purchase price.
Residents will also be asked to transfer $100,000 from an unassigned fund balance into a new Town Hall Capital Reserve Fund for future renovations.
The town is also requesting a $4.5 million operating budget.
On the school side, the initial operating budget was $12.1 million, while the default budget stood at just $53,000 more.
The School District was seeking $83,000 for a new teaching position at Allenstown Elementary School; and $50,000 for the Special Education General Expendable Trust.
The town and school deliberative sessions are scheduled to begin Saturday at 9 a.m. at St. John’s the Baptist church.
Besides the town’s operating budget of $3.7 million, the big-ticket item at Saturday’s deliberative session will be spending $1.24 million to renovate the Old Town Hall on Route 4 to house town offices, and a food pantry. The money would also pay for a septic system that would serve the new town hall and the community building – an old meetinghouse – that sits on the same plot of land.
On the school side, the proposed operating budget stands at $12.7 million. Special education and building maintenance sought $40,000 each.
The deliberative session will be held at 9 a.m. at Epsom Central School Gym, with the school portion heard first.
The town says it needs $615,000 for a new fire pumper, with the money coming from a pair of fire department-related reserve funds. The fire department also suggested another $308,000 for a new tanker truck, with $248,000 coming from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The proposed town operating budget is $ 5.18 million.
The school’s proposed budget stands at $10.17 million, with the default budget coming in at $81,000 more.
The school district wants to raise $850,000 to support federal and private foundation grant-funded educational programs.
The town deliberative session will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at Pittsfield Middle High School. The school deliberative session will be held on Feb. 10 at 6:30 p.m., at the school. The snow date for the school meeting is Feb. 12 at 10 a.m.