Orford holds its Town Meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14, in the gymnasium of Rivendell Academy off Route 25A. Voters will consider 22 warrant articles. Ballot voting for elective offices runs from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Orford
The infrastructure spending, which would come from the town’s capital reserve funds rather than from the coming year’s property-tax levy, is in addition to the Selectboard’s proposals to spend $976,542 on day-to-day operations, about $38,000 less than the current fiscal year.
“One of the things changing the bottom line was that we separated the requests for support from non-profit organizations from the bottom-line budget and put them in a separate warrant article,” Selectboard Chairwoman Anne Duncan Cooley said recently of the combined $11,379 that five groups are seeking. “We also are requesting some highway-related articles that in previous years were in the highway department budget as one-time expenses.”
If approved, the bottom line of the municipal budget would go down for the second year in a row, following 2015’s substantial increase in the property-tax rate. The current rate stands at $4.80 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
Town officials also are asking voters to raise a little more than $205,000, through a warrant article, to replenish 10 different capital-reserve funds for maintenance and replacement of vehicles and heavy equipment, upkeep of buildings and equipment and road and bridge work. From the current fund for bridges and roads, the town is asking townspeople to spend up to $50,000 to rebuild the High Bridge Road bridge, and another $75,000 for paving and road reconstruction along and around Archertown and High Bridge roads.
In the race to replace Duncan Cooley, who is not running for re-election after serving two terms, former Selectman Paul Goundrey is vying with businessman Justin Adams for a three-year term on the three-member board. Meanwhile, Deborah Hadlock and Ruth Hook are running to succeed Tax Collector Louise Mack, who is retiring after 33 years in the position.
Goundrey, who remained involved in town affairs as a member of the Conservation Commission after his most recent term on the Selectboard expired in 2011, said recently he decided to run again in part because he is retiring from his job as grounds and vehicles supervisor at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon.
“Winter was a real bear when I was last a selectman,” Goundrey recalled. “I worked all hours of the day and night. … The last six years, it was actually good to be away from (elective office) for a while. It’s long enough that I’ll be able to go in with fresh perspective.”
Adams, whose businesses include lawn-care, rubbish removal and a container service, could not be reached for comment over the past several days.
In other openings for elective office, incumbents Andrew Schwaegler and Tom Steketee are not seeking re-election to the Planning Board, while Kelley Monahan is running unopposed for a one-year seat.
David Corriveau can be reached at dcorriveau@vnews.com or 603-727-3304.