BY ROD HANSEN
If nothing else, Steve Najjar said he hopes this year’s Town Meeting will bring greater access to Horace Lake throughout the year.
Najjar, a member of the Weare Conservation Commission, is the author of a petitioned warrant article to be voted on at this year’s Town Meeting.
“Horace Lake is the major waterway and recreation area in Weare, and it should be open to people during reasonable hours year-round,” said Najjar.
The article seeks to open either the Chase Park boat launch or the boat launch adjacent to Chase Park throughout the year during non-ice conditions, and to provide access to the ice from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset during winter months.
The article also requests access to parking either inside the park grounds or on the nearby roadside.
Currently, the old boat launch adjacent to Chase Park is blocked off by rocks, and barriers forbid parking on the roadside. Signs at the park also require boats to be out of the water by 8:30 p.m.
Other items up for a vote at Town Meeting include a $4.3 million town operating budget, which is expected to account for $2.08 in the town portion of the tax rate and does not include appropriations for special articles.
One special article concerns reconstructing and resurfacing the town’s roads. The town road plan generally appears as a special article on the warrant, said Town Manager Fred Ventresco.
This year’s road plan article requests $375,000. Of that, $223,273 is slated to come from state block grants, while $151,727 will be raised through taxation, according to the posted warrant.
Other warrant articles include $21,600 for the one-year employment of a part-time professional planner, $10,000 to be added to an existing community access TV equipment capital reserve fund, $15,000 for cemetery improvements and tax exemptions for the elderly and the disabled.
Selectmen have recommended all items on the town warrant except for two concerning town safety personnel.
Articles requesting $52,000 for hiring and equipping one full-time police officer for nine months, and a second article seeking $49,850 to hire two per-diem EMTs to staff the ambulance eight hours a day, seven days a week from July 1 to Dec. 31.
Residents can debate and amend the warrants at the deliberative session of Town Meeting, which is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 3, beginning at 9 a.m. at Center Woods Elementary School.
School District Meeting
An $11.9 million school operating budget is the largest item voters will be asked to consider at this year’s School District Meeting. The deliberative session is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m., at Center Woods Elementary School.
This year’s requested budget is $202,894 higher than the default budget, which is the same as last year’s with some adjustments due to prior board actions or legal requirements.
Other items on the warrant include a new contract for Weare support staff, which offers a $57,621 increase in salary and benefits for the upcoming year.
Another article requests $17,900 for additional technology equipment, which is supported by the school board on the warrant.
A final article seeks authority to put up to $25,000 of potential surplus into a school building repair
expendable trust fund established in 2001. That article appears with the support of the school board.
Voting on town and school warrants and candidates is scheduled for Tuesday, March 13, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Center Woods.