MINOT — Selectmen Monday made their formal recommendations on warrant articles for March’s annual town meeting.
On March 3, townspeople will be voting on requests from town departments that total about $1,363,000.
While selectmen advocated approval of most of the funding requests, they are recommending against a request from the town Conservation Committee to resurface the infields of two ball fields.
The recommendation mirrors the position taken earlier by the town Budget Committee, which also suggested that if the infields are to be resurfaced, the money to do so should come from the balance being carried in the Recreation Department account.
Selectmen were also divided in their support of a request to build an addition to the town’s central fire station and a request for a new fire truck.
Plans for the addition call for nearly doubling the size of the building with a 2,640-square foot addition at an estimated cost of $432,000 — financed over 10 years.
Selectmen supported the central fire station addition by a 2-to-1 vote, with two abstentions.
In casting her dissenting vote on whether to support building the addition to the central fire station, selectman Eda Tripp made it clear that her “no” was not a refusal to bring the matter to a vote.
“Townspeople have a right to vote on it,” Tripp said.
The request for a new fire truck called for $150,000 — also financed over 10 years — and carried an estimated annual cost of about $17,500.
Selectman Dean Campbell, who, as fire chief, abstained from voting, asked Town Administrator Arlan Saunders to obtain figures for financing the fire engine for 4 years, in the event that townspeople might split their support for the fire department’s two capital requests.
The town Budget Committee had also previously voted not to recommend funding for either fire department request.
Saunders noted that if the Budget Committee’s recommendations are followed, the town budget for next year will actually be lower than the current year’s, which ends this Jan. 31.
“They came in saying something to the effect that ‘We’re going to cut anything that you don’t absolutely need,’” Saunders said.
In other business, selectmen received and reviewed applications for the Kurt Theriault and the Roland and Noella Hemond scholarships. There were six applicants for the Theriault scholarship and five applicants for the Hemond scholarship. Selectmen will announce recipients at their next meeting.
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