Plainfield’s annual School District meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 8, at the Plainfield Elementary School. Ballot voting to elect town and school officers will take place from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 12, in the school gymnasium. Town Meeting also will be held there at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 16, to decide the budget and other warrant articles.
PLAINFIELD — Voters will decide next month whether to tear down the Meriden Library and construct a larger building in its place.
An article on the Town Meeting warrant asks residents to approve $975,000 for construction of a 3,700-square-foot, single-floor facility in Meriden Village. Of that, $487,500 would be raised through long-term borrowing, while the remaining money would come from donations and existing reserve funds.
“This is by far and away the biggest issue we’ll talk about (at Town Meeting),” Plainfield Town Administrator Steve Halleran said in an interview last month.
The library proposal was met with a mixed reception at a public hearing last month.
Advocates for the new library say it would resolve several problems with the existing building, meeting handicap accessibility requirements and including a multipurpose room capable of housing meetings.
However, others argue the town can’t afford the spending and question why Plainfield needs two libraries.
The funding article will require a two-thirds majority to pass because it calls for borrowing in excess of $100,000, according to Halleran.
Residents also will be asked to allocate $135,200 to pay off the Plainfield Volunteer Fire Department’s debt obligations.
Voters last year approved a merger of the Meriden and Plainfield fire departments into a single, town-managed entity. Under the merger, the town agreed to complete loan payments on the Plainfield fire station, Halleran said.
Money for the station will come from the town’s unreserved fund balance, not new taxes. Halleran said he’s usually hesitant to spend the surplus money but noted that “this is truly a unique situation.”
“You don’t create a fire department every year,” he said.
The town’s proposed budget is $2.3 million, a 1 percent increase over the current budget. Halleran said there are no plans to increase staff or programs under the plan.
Other articles ask voters to approve $242,500 in appropriations into capital reserve funds and $155,000 to purchase a dump truck.
The town estimates that the budget would raise about $5,000 less in taxes, reducing the tax rate by about 2 cents per $1,000 of a property’s assessed value. That would amount to $5 less in taxes on a $250,000 home.
The Plainfield School District will ask voters to approve a $6.9 million budget for the coming year. That amounts to an increase of $23,429, or 0.34 percent, over the current spending plan.
If the school budget is approved, the district estimates it will collect $5.5 million from property taxes, a 1.7 percent decrease.
Other articles on the school warrant request $45,000 for new floors at Plainfield Elementary School and ask whether a finance committee should be appointed to advise on future budgets.
On the ballot, Selectboard member Judy Belyea will face Eric Brann and Mark Horne for a three-year seat on the board.
Four people — Patty Rondeau, Jennifer Lenz, Judy Ptak and Suzanne Spencer — are running for two three-year seats on the Library Trustees. John Hendrick and Jeanne Woodward-Poor are competing for a single two-year trustees position. All other races are uncontested.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.