Enfield
The board will now work out a purchase agreement with the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, which currently owns but is looking to sell the roughly 2.5 acres that is known as Mascoma Lakeside Park.
Residents passed the article on a vote of 130-6. The roughly dozen or so people who approached the microphone in the Enfield Village School gymnasium spoke highly of the idea to obtain the land for future uses by townspeople and visitors.
“I don’t own property on the lake and it would be a travesty in my mind if we lost the opportunity to purchase this,” Sharon Beaufait said. “It is an asset to our town. Let’s vote yes. Let’s not lose this opportunity.”
The land, coupled with other recreational opportunities in town, is a “great lure” for future generations, said state Rep. Roger Dontonville, D-Enfield.
“This is a great opportunity to make Enfield attractive to young people,” Dontonville said.
Officials have estimated that the land purchase could cost upward of $500,000, money that wouldn’t come from taxpayer dollars but rather a fundraising campaign, Town Manager Ryan Aylesworth said.
In addition, two groups — the Mascoma Sailing Club and the Enfield Village Association — have pledged funding to pay for ongoing maintenance costs on the parcels.
“We are having an opportunity to get something for free,” Sue Hagerman said. “This town is very cautious about its monies, and I can’t see why anyone would vote against this.”
Although most residents were in agreement about the potential of having a second town beach, they were divided over whether the lottery game keno should be allowed in Enfield. At least two businesses, Mickey’s Roadside Cafe and 56 Main Street Bar & Grill, could host the game, which will help pay for full-day kindergarten programs, according to state officials.
The article passed by only 2 votes, 51-49.
56 Main Owner Marjon Licks called the article a win-win before ballots were cast. Not only will it help with state education costs, it will boost her business, she said.
“As a business owner, please allow this process to happen,” Licks said to her fellow residents.
Bob Cusick, a former Mascoma School Board member, also said he was in favor of the article. Allowing keno “doesn’t hurt our businesses” and it allows for future education opportunities.
“It’s disingenuous not to do this,” he said.
But others were passionately against it, including Town Moderator David Beaufait, who stepped down to speak on the topic.
“I object strongly to the linking of addictive behavior like gambling to education,” Beaufait said. “It’s just plain wrong.”
Enfield would have received money generated through keno regardless of the outcome of the vote.
Voters in Enfield took time debating Article 6, which asked voters to approve $117,500 for various town projects: $58,000 for improvements to Crystal Lake Road; $20,000 for upgrades at the Shedd Street garage; $15,000 to rebuild the basketball court at Huse Park; $15,000 to repave the Whitney Hall parking lot; $6,500 to replace a trailer at the transfer station; and $3,000 to upgrade the locks on the Community Building.
Residents ultimately approved that article, but amended it to $97,500 on a vote of 73-47. The voters decided not to approve $20,000 for the Shedd Street garage, which is in disrepair but houses various pieces of equipment, including the fire department’s forestry vehicle.
Holly West made the amendment and said the town planned to decommission the garage but that has yet to happen. Instead, the town is throwing money at it for upgrades, including insulation and furnace repairs.
She urged the town to come up with a strategic long-term plan on what facilities in town taxpayers want to keep, and cautioned against “putting money into infrastructure that may not be worth improving and maintaining going forward.”
“I’m with Holly. I’d like to see it disappear and not put any money into it,” Lloyd Hackeman said.
Others were of a different mindset, saying some of the equipment that is housed in the garage must be kept out of winter weather conditions and there currently isn’t space in town to house it.
“(The) equipment is very valuable and if it is $20,000 to insulate it and get a new furnace. … I say do it,” Wayne Allaid said. “My reason being that the equipment has to be protected and it has to be usable right now. When you need it, you have got to have it.”
The amended article passed 107-23.
In other Town Meeting business, voters unanimously approved the $6.4 million operating budget, which represents a 3.4 percent increase over 2017’s approved spending.
They also overwhelming approved, 119-9, a $215,000 lease/purchase agreement for a new police cruiser and dump truck to be paid over seven years.
The town’s residents voted in favor of setting up an employee retirement benefit trust fund ($25,000), allocating money to conduct a wastewater study ($30,000), funding cemetery maintenance ($2,400) and pushing ahead with a strategic governance project and buying new financial and permitting software ($76,000).
Voters also approved putting roughly $320,000 into the Capital Improvement Program Capital Reserve fund.
In addition, all veterans in Enfield — instead of just a select group — are now eligible for a $200 tax credit, thanks to a unanimous vote by the body.
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.