Hopkinton residents weren’t in a cost-cutting mood during the annual Town Meeting, as voters agreed to add money to the Recreation Department and Public Works budgets.

One item in question in the weeks leading up to the Saturday, March 15, Town Meeting at Hopkinton High School was the town’s summer camp, run through the Recreation Department. But voters decided the program was worth it.

“The world has changed dramatically. The overwhelming majority of participants are single-parent and two-working parent households,” said outgoing Selectman Don Lane. “If not for the camp, they’d be spending summer in front of a TV. It gives them a creative outlet along with physical activity.”

Some residents felt the program should not be funded on the town’s dollar, including Arnold Coda.

“I do not see it as the responsibility of the citizens-at-large, because I don’t think it’s our responsibility as taxpayers to get children away from the television,” he said.

After a lengthy discussion, Lane moved to make an amendment to add $16,000 to the Recreation Department budget, increasing it to $166,000. The amendment passed 210-155, and the article was approved as well.

Selectmen also informed residents that the Public Works Department was arriving near or going over budget in several categories due to the difficult winter.

The department has already gone over budget in salt and sand, with 10 months of work still to be done. As a result, selectmen moved to add an additional $54,000, raising the overall Public Works budget to about $2 million.

The Public Works budget includes expenditures for the Highway Administration, highways and streets, buildings and grounds, the transfer station, landfill maintenance and monitoring and the Sewer Department.

To compensate, selectmen decided not to oppose $16,000 in other departments, leaving the amount at about $33,000.

“This past year we’ve all seen the amount of rain and snow. Herm (Blanchette) and his crew have been working hard to keep up with it,” said Selectman Tom Congoran. “When we were faced with that, we agreed not to contest the three articles, which would lower the increase.”

The amendment and article passed easily. In addition, voters passed Article 7, which asked for a new full-time firefighter/paramedic position, one step in the department’s goal of eventually becoming 24/7.

“I know of no other way to give the community quality care,” said Fire Chief Rick Schaefer. “I want to provide the service you people need and deserve.”

In addition to the operating budgets in each department of the $5.7 million budget, residents also approved the plowing of several private roads and designating a variety of town-owned land as town forests.

Residents also held a lengthy discussion on whether to approve Article 20, sending a letter to the state government to consider taxing other than property tax.

Of the town’s 4,618 registered voters, 8.8 percent, or 396, were in attendance at the meeting to pass the articles, which will raise the town tax rate from $21.05 to $21.21 per $1,000 assessed property valuation.