WOODSTOCK — A request from the Bethel Chamber of Commerce for Woodstock to raise and appropriate $1,596 will be among the items discussed at Woodstock’s annual town meeting at 7 p.m. March 25.
According to the town warrant, the $1,596 will go toward helping Bethel fund Mollyockett Day, an annual festival in Bethel that celebrates the life of Mollyockett, an Abenaki Indian born in the 18th century.
Town Manager Vern Maxfield said this is the first time the town has been approached by Bethel with a monetary request for Mollyockett Day.
“I expect it to be quite the matter of discussion at the meeting,” Maxfield said.
Residents will also vote on whether or not to allow the Board of Selectmen to raise and appropriate $20,000 to make improvements to the Lake Christopher Dam this summer. Maxfield said the dam’s sluiceway is “weak” and “there’s cracking of the concrete in the retaining walls.”
“The money will be used to shore that up,” Maxfield said.
The town of Woodstock accepted a bid from Cross Excavation to make the repairs on the dam between Aug. 15 and Sept. 15, according to Maxfield. Residents will also vote on whether to allow the Board of Selectmen to contract with Cross Excavation.
Four separate ordinances will be voted on, including a commercial wind energy facility ordinance, a consumer fireworks ordinance update and a property maintenance ordinance update.
Maxfield said the fireworks ordinance will simply “tighten up the ordinance, in terms of enforcement.”
As for the commercial wind energy facility ordinance, Maxfield said that if the residents voted it through, the town would have to vote to amend the site plan review ordinance.
The proposed 2013 budget will be $2,491,698, up from the $2,416,977 approved in 2012. The increase in the budget is due to increases in road maintenance (up $23,000), fire protection (up $5,000), insurance and legal fees (up $10,000) and utilities (up $10,000), among other categories.
There are four town official positions open: a selectman, a school director, and two library trustees.
Maxfield said Selectman Ron Deegan, SAD 44 Director Julie Davis and library trustees Marta Clements and Jane Mills are running unopposed as of Wednesday afternoon.
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