Grantham
The position has a salary cap of $45,000, plus $39,000 in health benefits, something Town Administrator Melissa White said she calculated for a married couple.
Those costs didn’t sit well with everyone in attendance.
“$39,000 in benefits! What do you get for $39,000? Do they get a trip to Hawaii?” resident Deborah Cheever asked.
Currently, the town of Grantham uses a part-time private contractor to perform custodial and maintenance work at Town Hall and the Dunbar Free Library. Under the new structure, the town will have a person dedicated to cleaning and providing routine and not-so-routine maintenance at both locations.
Bob MacNeil questioned whether it would be more cost-effective to keep things the way they are.
Perhaps, but contracting out the work doesn’t allow the town to stay on top of routine maintenance like it should, which can result in more costs down the road, Selectwoman Constance Jones said. In addition, other town employees have had to take time out of their normal schedules to help do the work.
“If you have someone here on a regular basis to take care of these buildings every day, it just seems to me that that is the way we ought to be thinking, rather than piecemeal,” Jones said.
Deciding whether to create the position was part of a larger spending article. That article — $1.36 million for general government expenses — passed on a hand vote of 52 to 24. The moderator initially asked for a voice vote, but it was too close to call.
Nineteen of a total 22 articles on the warrant were acted on from the floor. All of them passed.
Residents approved an 11 percent increase in the town’s total municipal and highway budget, bringing it to $3.8 million.
The budget factors out to a smaller 3.2 percent increase in the amount to be raised through taxes. Of the $3.8 million budget, $2.4 million will be raised through taxes, something White estimated would add 15 cents to the tax rate. That amounts to an increase of roughly $37.50 on a home assessed at $250,000.
The current town tax rate is $4.73 per $1,000 of assessed value, or about $1,183 on a $250,000 home.
With minimal discussion, voters approved a tax credit for qualifying veterans and increased tax exemptions for qualifying seniors.
Voters also approved a tax credit for residents with qualifying wood-heating energy systems. A similar article was defeated last year; only a few nays were heard in the crowd on Thursday.
Residents approved the purchase of a new police cruiser, as well as the purchase of a 1-ton highway truck.
Three articles were voted on by ballot on Thursday. They included elections for public office and two zoning amendments — one of which would allow for in-law apartments.
Voters overwhelmingly approved the zoning amendments.
Warren Kimball retained his seat on the Selectboard.
Brittany Pye won a race for a seat on the School Board against Theresa Bryant, 103-61.
Nicole Mason (88 votes) beat out Aaron Jenkyn (35 votes) and Carl Lloyd (29 votes) for a three-way race as trustee of the Dunbar Free Library.
Brenda Molloy will sit as school district clerk.
At the close of the meeting, resident Peter James commended town officials for postponing Town Meeting to Thursday.
Several towns and cities in New Hampshire elected to hold meetings on Tuesday despite a storm that dumped more than a foot of snow on the Upper Valley.
“Even though our state officials thought we should be out driving in the most hazardous conditions we have had in a couple of years, these people had the courage to buck the state and do something sensible,” James said.
His comment was met with a loud applause.
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.