Bob Nelson receives his ballot from Nancy Hartford in Nobleboro on Friday, March 19. Nelson was among the first voters to arrive at the polls for the annual town meeting by referendum. (Bisi Cameron Yee photo)
Nobleboro voters reelected Selectman Dick Spear and Road Commissioner Dale Wright, and approved the purchase of a $508,240 fire truck, during the annual town meeting by referendum Friday, March 19.
Voters approved all other warrant articles at the meeting, including the education and municipal budgets.
Spear received 144 votes to 50 for challenger Nate House, while Wright received 119 votes to 70 for challenger Matt Benner. Spear won a three-year term, Wright a two-year term.
Incumbent Michael Ward and newcomer Jennifer Pendleton won three-year terms on the school committee in uncontested races with 122 and 135 votes, respectively.
Reached by phone after the election, Spear, the chair of the board of selectmen, said he was happy with the number of people who voted and that all the articles passed.
The article to borrow $500,000 for the purchase of a new fire truck passed 150-42.
Voters approved a new ordinance to allow the fire department to bill insurance providers for the expense of responding to motor-vehicle accidents by a vote of 170-16. Money raised from cost recovery will go into a fund to save for the next fire truck.
“We had a great turnout,” Fire Chief Richard Genthner said. “The town was very supportive of the fire department and we are very appreciative.”
The new municipal budget totals $1,134,239, an increase of $81,168 or 7.71%. The education budget totals $3,919,234.71, an increase of $41,534.95 or 1.07%.
The municipal budget increase was driven by a $30,000 investment into a reserve fund to begin the process of saving for the next fire truck and a $28,661 payroll increase to cover the cost for an additional full-time employee at the town office.
In the education budget, the category of regular instruction increased by $26,062.86 or 1.3%, but the increase was offset by a $35,503.50 or 4.6% decrease in special education instruction.
Increases in system administration, transportation and buses, and facilities maintenance added $64,848.91 to the budget.
Residents voted 174-11 to appropriate $724,000 from “excise taxes, undesignated surplus, and local road assistance” to reduce the amount necessary to raise from property taxes.
Spear previously said residents may see an increase in property taxes from the current rate of $12.50 per $1,000 of valuation to $12.80.
(Correction: Due to a math error, an earlier version of this article online and on the front page of the March 25 print edition incorrectly reported the increase in the municipal budget as 7.16%. The increase is 7.71%. The Lincoln County News regrets the error.)
