When it comes to Canterbury’s annual town meeting, few subjects are deemed insignificant enough to bypass without debate steeped in passion and curiosity.
And so it was Friday night at the town’s elementary school, where people wanted clear explanations and context on everything from a raise for the town administrator, to the distribution of money for police cruisers spread over three years, to the manner in which the treasurer would next be appointed to office.
In the end, the town approved a $2.56 million budget and, through an amendment, added an additional $50,682 for payment on a Gold Star bond.
Debate began immediately, on the budget, as voters had questions about town raises, specifically geared toward the 10 percent increase requested for Town Administrator Ken Folsom.
Select board member Art Hudson explained that Folsom, who is part-time, is on call 24 hours a day, plus his pay needed to be upgraded to fall in line with what administrators in other towns earn.
“Ken’s responsibilities and challenges changed dramatically,” Hudson told the packed gymnasium. “He never leaves at 1 (p.m.). It’s a difficult job for the three (board members) to manage the town without his help.”
Then resident Mindy Beltramo said she recalled that Folsom had received an eight percent raise last year. She wondered if Folsom’s hours had been increased and why an official would deserve a two-year increase of $9,000.
“I know what Kenny is putting in,” Hudson said. “He’s worth every penny.”
Dave Balshaw then asked if Folsom’s raise was based on merit, and if so how had he saved the town money.
Hudson said Folsom is out on calls at all hours of the night, sometimes using his own generator to fix a problem with the sump pump.
“He’s there and people don’t realize it,” Hudson said. “He’s a valuable employee and we would not want to lose him.”
The wording in an article calling for a long-term lease/purchase agreement for $94,700 over three years to lease two police cruisers confused many.
The article called for a payment of $31,600 this year, with $13,000 coming from a reserve fund and $18,600 through taxation.
Residents wanted to know where the remaining $63,000 would come from, if the agreement would be renewed every three years, what the advantage of leasing over buying was and how many cruisers the department currently had.
In the end, police Chief Mike Labrecque explained that each cruiser would be leased for three years, then bought for $1; each car would be used for six years, or about 120,000 miles; and after three years, two new cruisers would replace two old ones, leaving the department with four all the time.
A two-thirds ballot vote – required when a commitment is for more than a year and more than $100,000 is involved – showed 140 residents in favor and just 14 against.
Also of great interest was the article calling for the three select board members to begin appointing the treasurer, rather than the traditional method of having voters decide on election day.
The board wanted the change to insure that an unqualified person would not be appointed to a job involving millions of dollars. Hudson said the present treasurer, Al Edelstein, was briefed on the article last fall and was leaning toward the change. He also said the article had nothing to do with Edelstein’s competency.
But Edelstein rose Friday night and said he “was not in favor of this. This is a community that likes to participate. I don’t want to put this into the hands of three people.”
Ruth Smith was against the measure as well, suggesting a public forum be held before election day to determine the qualification of candidates, and then voting.
Julie Dewdey and Teresa Wyman said the board should have told voters that this article was on the horizon, which would have given them more time to choose.
In a vote, green cards everywhere told the board that the town did not want the change.
“We need to trust the democratic process,” noted Dewdey.
Also, voters approved a proposal encouraging energy efficiency to “show Canterbury’s support for the use of renewable energy.”
The move made all residential solar energy systems completely tax exempt, giving residents a bigger tax break than the old ordinance, which capped the tax exemption at $5,000 of assessed value for solar systems. The new ruling will make solar systems completely tax exempt.