FARMINGTON – Voters will gather for the first daytime annual town meeting here at 9 a.m. on Saturday to decide a proposed $4.4 million municipal budget, along with zoning amendments and a proposed dog barking ordinance. The meeting will be held at the Farmington Community Center on Middle Street.
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To be decided on Friday at the polls are two, three-year-term selectmen and two school board seats. Selectman board chair, Steve Bunker and Selectman Dennis Pike are running for re-election. They are being challenged by former police officer Drew Hufnagel, who now runs a construction company. The two candidates with the most votes will be elected to serve as selectmen.
Running unopposed as Farmington’s representatives on the Mt. Blue Regional School District 9 are incumbent Raymond Glass, who currently serves as board chair and Monique Claverie, who wants to fill the vacancy left by director Yvette Robinson. Robinson is devoting her time towards running for the state House District 89 seat. Polls will be open at the community center from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday.
The total 2010 proposed municipal budget as recommended by selectmen is $4,411,560, which represents a decrease of $3,061 or .07 percent from the 2009 budget total, said Town Manager Richard Davis.
“Each departmental budget has been carefully scrutinized, and the selectmen and budget committee concur on all of the recommendations in the municipal operations portion of the proposed budget,” he said.
Selectmen and budget committee agree on all warrant articles except two.
Selectmen recommended cutting the funding to the Red Cross to $2,000, from a request of $3,500, and cutting Abused Women’s Advocacy Program’s request of $5,000 down to $3,000. The budget committee recommended that the agencies receive no funding in the coming year.
After much debate at the annual town meeting last year, AWAP’s funding was cut completely by a close majority vote. AWAP’s $5,000 funding request was restored after a citizen petition forced a re-vote and it easily passed at a well-attended special town meeting last summer.
An explanation included in this year’s draft warrant, regarding funding requests for the Red Cross and AWAP, said, “A majority of the budget committee believes that donations to charitable organizations should be by individual choice rather than through an involuntary property tax.”
Among the zoning amendments to be decided on Saturday is the shoreland zoning ordinance that was voted down at last town meeting. Among those speaking out against passage of the ordinance last year was planning board member Tom Eastler.
On recommendations he received including Eastler’s, Steve Kaiser, the town’s code enforcement officer, worked on making changes to the ordinance that allows for a lot more flexibility,” Kaiser said at an earlier meeting. Among the changes are allowing up to five recreational vehicles per new private campsite in the shoreland zone (and no limit on the number of other vehicles) instead of the state’s draft limit of one RV per campsite. The amendment also adds the exception that additional RVs can be allowed for brief periods of time with the CEO’s approval. A weekend wedding gathering held at a campsite was given as an example of when more RVs might be allowed to temporarily park at the site.
Another concern was the limitation of the number of people allowed at an private campsite in the shoreland zone. The state’s draft held that “one group not to exceed 10 individuals,” but the town’s version proposed was changed to omit the total number so there are no restrictions as to the number of people.
Overall, there is only one new wetland added to the shoreland zoning map located in the northeast corner of town. And there are three timber harvest options: 40 percent removal, 60 SF basal retention or outcome based in the shoreland zones, which Kaiser said provides for greater calculating ease.
“It’s time to pass this thing and get it on the books,” Eastler advised of the amended draft version residents will be deciding Saturday.
A dog barking ordinance will also be decided by voters.
The proposal to implement an ordinance to include barking dogs under the town’s animal control ordinance comes following complaints of 20 barking and howling sled dogs that moved into a Whittier Road neighborhood last summer. The draft’s model proposed, with changes made over the last months after public hearings were held, is used by other municipalities.
The ordinance outlines specific procedures and definitions to be used by a police officer and the animal control officer when evaluating a barking dog complaint. Copies of the ordinance will be available at the town meeting.
Last year voters approved moving the town meeting from the traditional second Monday night in March to a Saturday morning hoping that more people will be able to attend.
