HARTFORD — Voters agreed to spend more than was budgeted at the annual town meeting Saturday, increasing the mill rate from $19.78 per thousand of valuation to of $19.87.
Some items not in the budget were Hartford Food Bank, $300; Safe Voices, $400; Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice, $795; Community Concepts, $1,000; Rape Education and Crisis Hotline, $400; Rural Community Action Ministry, $2,200; American Red Cross, $300; SeniorsPlus, $400; and Tri-County Mental Health, $100.
Two Ordinances were not approved because Daryl and Leslie Boness found discrepancies in the language of the Building Permit and Road ordinances. They recommended nonapproval until the ordinances could be rewritten and reviewed by legal sources.
Five members of the Budget Committee were voted in and sworn in at a break in the meeting. Incoming Selectman Cathy Lowe was also sworn in during the break. the new Budget Committee members are John Plumley, Daniel Maddox, Doreen Maxwell, Leslie Boness and Robert L”Heureux.
Road Commissioner Jeremy Johnson was not in attendance Saturday and this called for several negative comments. “The roads are falling apart,” said Selectman John Plumley. “We need money to start putting them back in order.”
Road Committee Chairman Harley Swanson said, “We have plans now for the roads.” The problem is that the road commissioner doesn’t come to meetings to give his input.
Plumley said, “We need to balance the road work with taxes. There is a hell of a lot of work that needs to be done.”
Swanson said, “We have 50 miles of roads to maintain. We could go back to dirt roads and one-room schoolhouses, but do we want to do that?”
In other business, townspeople complained that people from out of town are filling up the dumpsters provided for residents on roads where curbside pickup is not feasible.
Resident Louis Dagon said he had a simple solution: “Go through the bags and I’m sure you will find letters with addresses. You can write the people or take the trash back to their house.” Someone else suggested locking the dumpsters or using special-colored bags, so you would know the wrong bags.
The Board of Selectmen was charged with contacting the waste service to for help in solving the problem.
“We are paying for other people’s trash,” Bob Calawa said.
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- Newly elected Selectman Cathy Lowe sits with Chairman Lee Holman and Selectman Peggy Poskus at the annual town meeting on Saturday.
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- Residents respond to moderator Scott Cole by raising name cards to vote at Saturday’s annual town meeting.
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