Newcastle voters carefully plowed through budget requests at their annual town meeting Monday night, restoring proposed cuts in the department budget, and funding requests to LCTV, the local community access television station, and Skidompha Library.
Although town officials presented a budget that included no raises for town workers, they were successful in obtaining approval from voters to hire another part-time road superintendent/town maintenance worker.
Town administrator Ron Grenier said the funds restored to the budget will not have a significant effect on the final budget numbers. “When compared to the overall budget of $3.9 million, we are talking about a few pennies,” he said. “The citizens spoke and we were finished by 8:10 p.m.”
Overall, the voters approved a $3.9 million budget that is about six percent under the $4.2 million figure approved in 2009.
The 81 voters at the meeting, held at the Nelson Bailey Gymnasium on the Lincoln Academy campus, featured special thank you presentations to Loretta Boeche and her volunteer members of the Veterans Memorial Park Committee, and congratulations to George and Arlene Cole on the occasion of their 60th wedding anniversary.
The Board of Selectmen also thanked the town staff for their efforts to help keep taxes down.
The final tax rate will be set Monday during a special Selectman’s meeting.
The Selectmen urged voters to cut the town fire department budget request by $6000 after the firefighters did not spend all of their 2009 budget. The unspent funds, about $10,000, were returned to the town’s general fund.
Fire Chief Clayton Huntley successfully argued for restoration of most of the funds with voters approving a total of $104,000 on the fire company.
“Our fire calls were down 30 percent last year, but they are back up this year. We might be in for a banner year,” he said.
Town officials said they would pay for increased fire company expenses, should they exceed the budgeted amount.
Martha Frink and other LCTV supporters were successful in their attempts to urge voters to allocate half the franchise fee ($4728) paid to the town by Time Warner Cable.
Some of the most passionate pleas for funds for non-governmental agencies came from supporters of the Skidompha Library.
The library’s request for $16,641, the same as last year, found a deaf ear from the town finance committee, which recommended the voters no longer fund the institution that serves as the public library for Damariscotta, Newcastle and other towns.
Instead, the finance committee suggested that each town family pay a $40 annual membership fee to obtain a library card.
The selectmen disagreed with the finance committee, urging voters to fund the library’s request.
Jenny Mayher, a children’s librarian at Skidompha, said the $40 fee would create a “pay to play” system that would keep library services away from some elderly and children who could not afford the fee. Others echoed her argument.
The library request was approved, with just a few voting no on the question.