EUSTIS — The 2022 annual town meeting took place on Saturday, March 5, and the gathered townspeople approved the entire warrant.
Municipal elections were held on Friday, March 4. For the two open seats on the select board, Jeff Lecander was reelected and Justin Wyman was newly elected. There were also two open seats for the school board; Casey Cote and Jeff Brickley were elected to fill those positions. Andy Brann and Lynn Schnorr were chosen for the planning board.
Warrant articles three through 10, which primarily allow the select board to carry over year-end funds, dispose of tax-acquired properties, reduce the tax commitment, and other budget housekeeping items, were approved as a group.
Just over $1.25 million was raised through the warrant articles for municipal operations, services, and organizations.
A question was posed about the computer maintenance line item; there is an increase from $16,500 to $18,000. Deputy Town Clerk Rachel Williams explained that the State requires that the town purchase a license for the municipal software every year, which costs over $10,000. The software allows the town to process registrations and other business, and the town has no control over the cost of the program. In addition, the town will need to upgrade their servers this year, which accounts for the increased cost in the budget.
The town was asked to approve the purchase of a John Deere tractor for the transfer station. The tractor has already been acquired; no payments have been made at this time. The select board asked to appropriate $44,670 from the surplus account to pay for the tractor in full, rather than take out a loan to pay it off. If the town voted down the article, the select board would arrange for the town make payments on the tractor. A few community members voiced concern about the manner in which the purchase was being handled; members of the select board stated that they had discussed the process multiple times in public meetings and welcomed more participation from the public. After discussion, the article passed.
It was also proposed that the town should operate equipment reserve accounts for the public works and the transfer station departments, similar to the equipment reserve account for the fire department. At this time, the town does not reserve funds for equipment purchases for these departments. Members of the select board agreed it was a good idea that should be considered for the next year’s budget season and invited the concerned parties to bring it to a regular select board meeting for further discussion.
Finally, the town approved allocating $65,270.58 in American Rescue Plan Act funds towards the expansion of the food pantry. Currently, the food pantry is located in a back corner of the community building. Engineering plans have not been made yet but the expansion is planned to build out that corner of the building to allow the food pantry more spare to operate.
