Charity donations, accepting Moosehead Lane as a town road, and a new municipal parking lot were the warrant articles that generated the most discussion at the Whitefield town meeting Saturday, March 21. After some discussion, debate, and defeated amendments, voters approved the $997,453 worth of expenditures included in the warrant.
Whitefield’s municipal budget for 2015-2016 stands at $1,052,293 after factoring in $54,840 of debt service not voted on.
The budget is a 29.1 percent increase from the previous year.
Town roads accounted for the single largest increase in the municipal budget. Due to the report of the Whitefield Roads Committee, an ad hoc committee formed to conduct a comprehensive study of town roads, selectmen and the budget committee recommended increasing expenditures on town roads by 31.8 percent.
Louis Sell, a member of the roads committee, presented the findings from the first comprehensive study of Whitefield’s roads in the town’s history to the assembly. “Our roads are not in good shape,” Sell said. “This is not astounding to anyone here.”
Increased expenditure on town roads now will allow for their needed rehabilitation and prevent costly emergency repairs in the future, Sell said. The voters that turned out to form Whitefield’s legislative body approved the $334,700 budget for town roads without debate.
Members of the Whitefield Roads Committee were given a round of applause for their work.
The warrant article which asked the town to accept Moosehead Lane as a town road and raise $1,500 for plowing and salt and sand generated the most debate, with over 15 voters weighing in.
Recognizing Moosehead Lane as a town road was on Whitefield’s warrant the previous year. One of the primary reasons it was defeated was due to the absence of a policy governing the adoption of town roads, residents said.
Selectmen have since created a new road policy, which Moosehead Lane complies with. On this year’s warrant, selectmen recommended approval of the road.
Those who spoke in favor of the warrant article said it was only fair to provide the same level of services to the taxpayers on Moosehead Lane as everyone else. They also said it would discourage future development if the town indicated it would not accept new roads.
Those who spoke in opposition spoke mainly of increased costs and liability for the town. Some expressed concern the town would be overwhelmed with additional subdivision roads requesting town road status.
When the issue was brought to the floor for a vote, however, a strong majority of residents voted in favor of making Moosehead Lane the newest addition to Whitefield’s town road network.
Clarissa Howard was one of the first residents on Moosehead Lane and an advocate for its approval as a town road. “It’s really nice to see the support the town showed for our road,” Howard said after the meeting.
The warrant article asking voters to raise $9,500 for the construction of a new municipal parking area adjacent to the fire station received a fair amount of scrutiny from voters.
Selectmen said the project would fund construction of a gravel parking area in the field between the town office and the fire station. Stairs would be built to connect the parking area, accessed from the town office, to the meeting room of the fire station.
The lack of parking at the fire station, which is used for municipal meetings and elections, creates a serious safety hazard, selectmen said.
A motion was quickly made and seconded to reduce the amount raised for the parking area to $0. Some residents questioned the need for the project and asked detailed questions about the project’s specifications.
One resident spoke of the safety risk they personally experienced when voting at the fire station.
The motion to reduce the amount for the parking area to $0 was defeated, and the warrant requesting approval for a new municipal parking area was passed by a strong majority.
The amount raised for charity organizations also sparked some discussion, with most residents asking questions about the scope of work performed by the organizations.
A motion was made to reduce the $1,137 selectmen recommended for Kennebec Behavioral Health to the $550 recommended by the budget committee – the one difference in the warrant between budget committee and selectmen recommendations. The motion for amendment failed.
A motion was also made to increase the amount recommended for LifeFlight from $0 to the previous year’s appropriation of $575. The motion failed. Voters approved raising $6,717 for charity organizations.
“This was a good meeting,” Whitefield Board of Selectman Chairman Dennis Merrill said. “We had good discussions.”
Whitefield’s property taxes will be determined when the town’s county tax commitment and contribution to RSU 12 is known.
