SALISBURY – Salisbury resident Tricia Thompson lives near one of the most beat up parts of West Salisbury Road. But she still doesn’t believe now is the right time to vote to increase the town budget to help repair it.

“I know how bad it is, and I’ll be the first to complain about it,” she said. “(But) this economy and with the amount of people in our town that are older, on fixed incomes, we can’t continue to increase the budget. We have to sometimes take a little bit back and tighten our belts.”

For over three hours in the tightly-packed town hall in Salisbury on Tuesday night, residents debated issues from paving roads to expanding police patrol hours at their annual town meeting.

“We’re not spending too much on the roads,” said Brett Walker, chair of the board of selectmen. “By the time they get around to reclaiming those roads, they’re almost dirt roads because of the potholes that have occurred.”

Others, including Joshua Nixon, explained that pushing off the work would just end up increasing costs to the taxpayer in the long run.

“If we decide that we’re going to go backwards instead of forwards in repairing our roads, then why not just turn them all back to dirt?” he said. “A lot of people that move into town want paved roads, but they don’t want to pay for paved roads. … At some point, you have to pony up the money to fix it.”

The first warrant article debated was approving the operating budget of $1,448,481, recommended by the budget committee, a 4.8% increase over last year.

About $22,000 of the increase stems from increased costs for ambulance services, town heating, electricity, dispatch for fire, ambulance and forestry among other minor increases. 

The vast majority of the increase was for the capital expense portion of the budget. Each year, the town of Salisbury reclaims part of one road in the town. Usually, the cost for the project is about $170,000; this year, reclaiming roughly a mile of West Salisbury Road would cost about $236,000.

Beyond the overall 4.8% increase, Walker also offered an amendment to increase the operating budget by an additional $17,500 because the town has already plowed through its winter maintenance budget. The money raised would ensure plowing, sanding and other measures are in place for November and December of this year. The amendment passed, with minimal opposition, raising the operating budget for the year to $1,465,981.

One resident, Jeff Blanchard, voiced opposition to the increase in the budget, citing a lack of effort to cut what he deemed unnecessary costs.

The first of which was a Volunteer Appreciation day, something the town’s had for several years to recognize the hard work of the town volunteers who devote their time to keeping things running smoothly.

“We decided this year to add $500 to the budget so we could throw an appreciation party at the end of the year for government officials and volunteers,” he said. “In a small town like Salisbury, we show our appreciation by looking each other in the eye and saying ‘Thank you.’ I don’t know why we need to take $500 out of the taxpayers’ pocket to do something completely inauthentic and insincere.”

Increased police patrol coverage also drew lengthy discussion. The warrant article called for doubling police patrol coverage from eight hours a week to 16 hours a week “to ensure the safety of the motoring public and safety of the residents of Salisbury.”

This patrol coverage is in addition to regular police patrol the town receives.

Merrimack County sheriff and Salisbury resident David Croft agreed with the need for more patrol hours due to what he said has been an increase in the number of calls his office has received for criminal activity.

“We can’t keep up with just eight hours trying to do what we have to do here,” he said. 

However, he added that perhaps 16 hours a week was a bit too much, so he offered an amendment to increase the patrol to 12 hours instead. Neither the selectmen nor the budget committee recommended this appropriation – initially listed at $33,000 but cut down closer to $18,000 with Croft’s amendment, which passed. 

Walker cited his reasoning for the opposition at last month’s budget public hearing and reiterated it again on Tuesday night.

“The state police have not been able to provide the eight hours of coverage that we are currently budgeted,” he said on Feb. 6. “In the month of December, I believe it was seven patrols out of eight they were able to cover. In November, I believe it was six. … They are shorthanded, and they are, at this point, not able to provide the eight hours that were budgeted, so for me, it's a pretty simple decision. It doesn't make sense for us to raise another $33,000 if the state police are not able to provide patrols.”

However, New Hampshire lieutenant Daniel Baldassarre countered that they were able to cover every shift.

Walker simply based his recommendation on the invoices he received from the town administrator that showed they were not paying for eight hours of coverage each week.

After about 30 minutes of discussion, the residents voted on the warrant article by secret ballot, per the request of one person in attendance. After quadruple checking the results, the warrant article barely passed as amended, 46-45.

Additional discussion at the meeting covered the ability of the selectmen to acquire or sell land and buildings, another warrant article that passed with little opposition.

Notably, the town also voted to raise $152,517 to add to the Land Acquisition Capital Reserve fund; $49,000 to add to the Fire Rescue & Emergency Services Equipment Capital Reserve Fund; and $16,960 for the Air Pack Equipment & Maintenance Expendable Trust Fund.

The town also elected several new officials, including John Herbert to the board of selectmen, Gayle Landry for tax collector and James Zink-Mailloux for town clerk. Marcia Murphy, William MacDuffie Sr. and Jennifer Hoyt were elected to serve on the budget committee. 160 votes were cast, and all elected offices are for three year terms.

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