Voters approve all in New Boston

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 20:41:00 GMT

BY STEPHEN BEALE

Turnout was low but voter satisfaction was high in the school and town elections earlier this week.

All the warrant articles on the town and school ballots passed on Tuesday. Most were by comfortable margins, including a $3.7 million operating budget for the town and a $10.2 million operating budget for the school district.

In the election for local offices, Christine Quirk edged out Peter Kucmas for a single seat on the Board of Selectmen and Monika Wright won an uncontested race for the School Board.

No candidate filed for a second open seat on the board. Joe Constance won that second seat with 70 write-in votes.

Other winning candidates were the following: Gregg Peirce for cemetery trustee, Candace Woodbury for library trustee, Lee Nyquist for town moderator, Cathleen Strausbaugh for supervisor of the checklist, Karen Johnson for town treasurer and Thomas Manson for trustee of the trust funds. Also, Wayne Blassberg beat George St. John for fire ward by one vote, 731 to 730.

Out of a total of 3,750 registered voters, 959, or 25 percent, showed up at the polling place, according to Town Clerk Irene Baudreau.

“It’s disappointing, the small turnout we had,” Baudreau said. In all, not counting the article for election of officers, there were 32 articles on the town ballot that got the nod from voters.

Nearly a dozen of them dealt with spending. The largest was $3,720,780 for the town operating budget.

The rest involved smaller expenses, such as $60,000 for the refurbishment of the town main water attack vehicle, $85,000 for improvements to Bedford Road, $55,000 installment for the future purchase of Highway Department trucks, and $65,000 to replace the bridge on Lyndeboro Road.

The items on the ballot were generally run-of-the-mill, according to selectman Gordon Carlstrom. “This year, there really isn’t anything that is a huge controversy out there,” Carlstrom said.

Most of the articles passed by wide margins. But a $150,000 proposal for a footbridge over the Piscataquog River squeaked through by only 15 votes, with 480 voting yes. The bridge will connect the Mill Pond Conservation area with land owned by the New Boston Tavern.

Of the total cost, $120,000 will be funded by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, $19,000 will be raised in taxes and the rest will come from the New Boston Foot Traffic Road Safety Committee.

Voters also took a stand on taxes Tuesday. They signed off on a statement, authored by the Granite State Fair Tax Coalition, declaring that the property tax has become unjust and unfair and calling upon state officials to have an open discussion on all revenue options.

The election further affected taxes on the local level. New Boston voters granted exemptions for solar and wind power systems and boosted the exemption limits on income and assets for elderly and disabled taxpayers.

Woodbury keeps seat, town budget approved

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 20:18:00 GMT

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.

New Boston News : elections

Voters approve all in New Boston

Woodbury keeps seat, town budget approved