FARMINGTON – Residents will be asked to approve a budget at Monday’s town meeting which is $9,000 lower than last year’s appropriation, after electing town officials earlier that day.
Incumbent Selectman John Frary is being challenged by Ryan Morgan for a three-year term on the board. Frary, a retired college professor, was elected in 2007 to fill the late Mary Wright’s seat, and has served until the end of her term. Morgan, while never serving on the board, is no stranger to selectmen meetings and often attends to offer questions and opinions.
Iris Silverstein, a local pediatrician, is running unopposed for Director Joyce Morton’s seat on the MSAD 9 School Board. Morton actually planned to retire in 2008 but agreed to fill in for another departing director at the board of selectmen’s request.
Also appearing on the ballot will be a question asking residents if they want to move the town meeting from Monday evenings to Saturday mornings. According to Town Clerk Leanne Pinkham, the question appears on the ballot due to the request of a citizen, not due to actions taken by the town or selectmen.
Polls open on Monday in Farmington at 9 a.m. at the community center, closing at 6 p.m. The town meeting begins at 7 p.m., in the same building.
The question about whether or not to exceed the LD1 limit, a spending level set through a state-created formula, will appear at the beginning of the warrant rather than the end, as it has at past town meetings. Selectmen were split on the decision, with three in favor of the change and two opposed.
The question may be moot; the current budget will fall roughly $17,000 below the LD1 limit if all recommendations made by the selectmen and budget committee are enacted by the voters.
The recommended 2009 budget is $9,000 less than the 2008 budget, thanks to a series of small reductions made across the board to compensate for some increases which are beyond the control of the selectmen. The budget features no new staffing or program expenses, some reserve account reductions, and major reductions in the capital improvements line.
Town Manager Richard Davis himself was not immune to the careful budget process, successfully requesting that a proposed 1 percent increase in his retirement line be deferred, in the interests of parity with other town employees and keeping budget increases to a minimum.
Major increases include an increase of nearly $30,000 in the fire hydrant rental rate. The Farmington Village Corp., a nonprofit, quasi-municipal organization which provides water for more than 1,500 local businesses and residences in Farmington, Temple and a small part of Wilton, increased the rate to meet its rising costs.
Another $29,000 increase in the next budget is sought after the town took over the care and ownership of the Riverside and Fairview cemeteries. As such, those employed to care for the cemetery grounds have wage increases coming to them because they are now town employees. Also part of the increase is a storage shed’s roof that needs replacing for $2,000. The town previously pitched in $30,000 annually for cemeteries, which offsets the currently proposed budget total of $59,000.
Pinkham saw one article that she thought may spark some discussion, namely a request by the Abused Women’s Advocacy Project for $5,000. Selectmen and the budget committee have recommended that no money be appropriated for that outside agency, citing concerns over the group’s administrative costs compared to the services offered to residents.
“That will probably bring some discussion,” Pinkham said, noting that in the past such reduction recommendations have been often reversed by residents at the meeting.
The only disagreement between the budget committee and selectmen pertains to another outside agency. While selectmen recommend appropriating the American Red Cross $2,500, as opposed to the requested $3,500, the committee asks that the organization receive the entire requested amount.
If the selectmen’s recommended budget is passed, it will consist of $4,349,109 in total appropriations, or .21 percent less than the current budget. The budget committee’s recommended budget is $1,000 more, or .18 percent less than the current budget.
It is the residents, however, that will have the final say on the issue. Copies of the town report, dedicated to local farmers L. Herbert “Bussie” York and Brenda York, are now available throughout Farmington. The selectmen urge voters to attend the town meeting, at 7 p.m. on March 9 at the local community center.
