At Jefferson’s annual town meeting referendum March 31, voters approved the proposed $729,600 municipal budget and approved all but one article on the warrant, according to unofficial results provided by the town.
The budget, which is up $20,783 or 2.93 percent over 2014, was flat in most lines but did include wage increases for the town clerk and both deputy clerks, as well as an increase to the town’s share of the Nobleboro-Jefferson Transfer Station.
The one item in the budget that failed to pass was an $845 request for Midcoast Maine Community Action. MMCA provides funding for Head Start; Maine’s Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program; and fuel and utility assistance to Jefferson residents, according to the warrant article.
The vote on the request was close, 135 for to 140 against.
Requests from other outside agencies, totaling $8,194, all passed, and by substantially wider margins.
Other notable approvals include, both funded from surplus, $98,000 to repair and expand the town’s salt shed, and $200,526 to pay off the balance of the loan for the town’s fire station.
The loan payoff will save the town about $31,745 in interest, according to the warrant.
In contested elections, Pam Grotton was chosen as selectman over Bob Pisco, 139 votes to 114; and Al Vorhis was elected to a two-year term on the Jefferson School Committee with 145 votes over Brady Grotton, 67 votes, and Nicole Potter, 40 votes.
In uncontested elections, Forrest Bryant was re-elected to a three-year term on the school committee; Wayne Johnston won a one-year term as road commissioner; Wayne Farrin, George Humphrey, Carol Kimball, and Bruce Sedgwick were all reelected to three-year terms on the budget committee; and Scott Banks won as a write-in for a one-year term on the budget committee with 29 votes.
