WELD – Voters will choose a new selectman, review two updated ordinances and a slight budget increase at the annual town meeting this week. Voting will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. in the Multi-purpose Room at the Town Office; the town will convene at 10 a.m. Saturday morning to vote on the other articles.
Selectman Benjamin Hout is not running again this year, according to Town Clerk Carol Cochran, with David Rackliffe running unopposed for that seat on the three-member board. A contested election will be held for the five-year Planning Board seat currently occupied by Ernestine Hutchinson, as Patrick Lowe is challenging her for that position. Regional School Unit 9 Director Deborah Smith is running unopposed for another three-year term on the school board.
The proposed $615,201 municipal budget represents an increase of less than 1 percent as compared to last year’s expenditures. Cochran said that a little more than half of that figure – $315,193 – was proposed to come out of taxation. The other $300,008 would be generated through a combination of revenue from the Undesignated Fund, state revenue sharing, appropriations from Franklin County for fire protection and transfer station usage and other fees.
One new expenditure is a proposed $3,000 for Mt. View Cemetery. If approved, Cochran said, the funds would be used to hire a surveyor to create new lots in the recently-expanded cemetery.
Residents will also be asked to weigh in on changes to two ordinances. The town is proposing to change the Building Ordinance into a Land Use Ordinance, bringing it into compliance with the state’s Uniform Building and Energy Code, which as of September 2019 applies to every town in the state. The change to the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance would add a fine system for violating permitting requirements, as well as an additional fee if the Planning Board had to hire an independent consultant as part of an application.
