Warner residents will be weighing in on a road construction loan, skate park equipment and a trash compacter, among other things at the annual town meeting Wednesday. On Tuesday, voters will choose elected officials by ballot.
Polls will be open for ballot voting Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Warner Town Hall. On Wednesday evening, town meeting will begin in the same place at 6 p.m.
At town meeting, residents will be voting on the proposed town operating budget of $3,675,514, which is a 4.3% increase from last year’s budget of $3,524,207.
Town meeting attendees will also be voting on over 17 warrant articles with a total value of $1,109,989. If every article is approved, it will have a “substantial” tax impact on Warner residents, according to the town budget committee report. The amount of taxes the town is seeking to raise is $3,481,704, a 12.3% increase from last year’s amount of $3,100,974.
One major warrant proposal Warner residents will be deciding is whether to issue $2,615,000 in bonds for improving town roads and their drainage and raise $25,000 through taxation to pay the bond interest. According to the warrant article, the roads on the list for improvement include Schoodac Road, Poverty Plains Road, Pumpkin Hill Road, Mason Hill Road and North Village Road.
Warner residents will also be voting on a proposal to dedicate $80,000 to the transfer station facilities, and a proposal to replace the transfer station’s existing trash compactor, at a cost of $100,000. Trash is the largest category of refuse processed at the station, according to the annual report by transfer station foreman Varick Proper, who wrote the trash compacter is “inadequate,” and the station’s recycling equipment “has been assessed as being antiquated to the point of warranting no further investment.”
Voters will also decide whether to fund a new police vehicle for $15,00o and a fire and rescue vehicle for $96,678. Equipment for a new skate park in Riverside Park, at a cost of $56,000, will also be on the table for a vote.
In her yearly report, town administrator Diane Ricciardelli encouraged residents to show up to vote.
“At Town meeting, residents vote for how the Town will spend the taxpayer’s funds,” Ricciardelli wrote. “Each year, there are fewer than 5% of registered voters who attend Town Meeting. This is your opportunity for your voice to be heard; I encourage all registered voters to attend Town Meeting on March 9, at 6pm, at Town Hall to vote.”
In the polls Tuesday, several questions relating to housing policy will appear on the ballot via a resident petition, including one which proposes nixing the current minimum requirement for square feet in Warner’s building code and zoning ordinance, which is 500 in a freestanding single-family home or 300 in an apartment. Another question proposes amending the zoning ordinance to allow multi-family workforce housing in Warner’s medium-density residential district, commercial district and intervale overlay district.
In the polls, Warner residents will also vote to elect a supervisor of the checklist, two selectmen, two budget committee members, a trustee of trust funds, an almoner of the Foster and Currier Funds, three library trustees, two cemetery trustees, a Chandler Reservation Committee member and a town moderator.
The supervisor of the checklist position is the only race that is contested – Michael Kevin Brown and Karen Coyne are vying for the open seat, which has a six-year term.
Samuel Bower is running unopposed for the one-year selectman seat and Christine Frost is running unopposed for the three-year selectman seat. Robert Blake is running unopposed for the one-year budget committee seat and Michael Cutting is running unopposed for the three-year budget committee seat. Robert Blake is also running unopposed for trustee of trust funds. Janice Cutting is running unopposed for almoner of the Foster and Currier Funds. Sherry Colfer, Teresa Hathaway and Michael Kevin Brown are running for the three library trustee positions. Mary Cogswell and Donald Wheeler are running for the two cemetery trustee positions. Gerald Courser is running unopposed for a seat on the Chandler Reservation Committee, and Ray Martin is running unopposed for town moderator.