EUSTIS – Nearly 50 voters met Saturday and approved a 33-article warrant in about an hour and a half, including a large increase to the winter road maintenance budget.
According to Assessor Sandra Scribner, the town did spend some time discussing that item, asking questions about the additional $55,000 in requested appropriations. Selectmen explained that the increases were due to changes in the contractual amount that the town pays to plow the roads in the winter. Eustis maintains no plow trucks of its own and uses third-party contractors to keep the roads clear.
Scribner thought the turning point was when a resident asked the selectmen what the town’s options really were in this case.
“He said ‘what happens if we vote the money down?'” Scribner said. “And the selectmen basically said we signed a contract and we could get taken to court.”
That article, along with 32 other articles totaling a budget of slightly more than $692,000, passed easily.
Election results were also announced. Incumbent Selectman Jan Wilkinson and Incumbent School Board Director Tom McDonald both retained their seats, running unopposed. Also elected were Daphne Hart, Laurie Lemont and Marguerite Robichaud, a write-in candidate, to fill three vacancies on the planning board.
Scribner said she was pleased things had gone well at the meeting.
“I’m just glad it’s over with for another year,” she joked.
