BY ROD HANSEN
The town said yes to a $3.4 million operating budget, and voters kept Dave Woodbury in his seat on the board of selectmen in town voting March 13.
Nearly all town and school district warrant articles passed, with the sole exception of one article requesting money to build a footbridge connecting the two main sections of town.
Woodbury, a six-year member and current chairman of the board of selectmen, faced a challenge this year from finance committee member Kim DiPietro. Voters turned in the incumbent’s favor this year, with Woodbury keeping the seat by a margin of 476-350.
Voters showed approval for the proposed operating budget, with the $3.4 million outlay passing 566-304.
This year’s town budget has seen an increase of $297,000, or 9 percent, from last year. Some of the increases have been attributed to $57,000 in new police department spending, including the hiring and equipping of a new officer and increased spending due to rising asphalt costs, selectman Gordon Carlstrom said at the deliberative sessions of Town Meeting.
One article to spark discussion in the season leading up to voting was Article 14, which requested $8,000 for a Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission study on the fiscal impact of subdivisions on local services, and the usefulness of developing future impact fees. Voters supported the article by 501-366.
Several articles asked for tax dollars in support of local equipment and maintenance. Article 20 asked for $30,000 in partial funding for a one-ton highway truck. Voters accepted that article by a margin of 486-388.
Voters also accepted an article requesting $55,000 to be placed in a highway heavy equipment capital reserve fund, this time by a measure of 575-289.
In similar ballot measures, voters approved an item asking for $50,000 for the town highway truck capital reserve fund by a vote of 535-328, and $90,000 to replace the town’s ambulance earned a vote of 581-288.
Despite a heated promotional campaign to begin the process of constructing a footbridge along the Piscataquog River connnecting the central village to the south commercial district, voters rejected that measure by a margin of 388-502.
The article sought $4,800 in taxation to be raised for design, engineering and right-of-way costs.
In total, the project was set to cost $150,000, with $120,000 to be funded through state grants and $30,000 to be raised through taxation.
A second warrant article was expected for 2009 to cover the remainder of the project, but hinged on passage of this year’s article.
School district voting
On the school district ballot, voters approved an operating budget of $9.4 million by a margin of 590-283.
In a more controversial vote, voters agreed with an article seeking $33,000 to conduct a survey of New Boston School District property and to carry out an architectural feasibility study of adding seventh- and eighth -grades to New Boston Central School. Money for that article will come from unreserved fund balances. That article passed by a margin of 566-308.
Currently, New Boston sends students in seventh and eighth grades to Mountain View Middle School in Goffstown.
Another article on the school district ballot sought approval of a new teachers contract, which required $119,039 in new spending during the first of its four years. This article gained voter approval by 579-300.