SABATTUS — Townspeople passed more than 40 budget items Thursday night, approving expenses that include a new school resource officer and a gazebo project on Middle Road.
The town approved small increases to the Police and Fire department budgets, while also approving funds for repairs along the entire length of Williams Road.
Voters approved the Police Department budget, which is up $23,000 to $508,748 to cover the cost of adding a school resource officer. The position is funded 25 percent by the town and 75 percent by Regional School Unit 4.
The Fire Department budget, which includes a 2½ percent pay raise for all firefighters, was approved, as was an additional $4,000 to boost the payments for on-call responses.
About 60 people who attended the meeting also approved $10,000 for a gazebo to be built in front of Town Hall, even after the Budget Committee had declined to support the measure. Town officials say the gazebo will be used for music performances and other events.
Residents enthusiastically voted to raise and appropriate $77,100 for the first of five bond payments to repair mile-and-a-half-long Williams Road, which is notoriously rough.
The total cost of the project is capped at $360,000.
Residents also voted to approve $22,500 to fund various groups, but only after heated discussion that went on for several minutes.
At issue: Funds ranging from $100 to $5,100 earmarked for a variety of organizations, including 10 nonprofits.
Resident Amadeo Lauria, a retired U.S. Army officer and projects coordinator for the American Legion, was the first to raise the issue. He did so by moving to have the amount given to those organizations changed to zero.
The issue, Lauria said, is that more and more groups are added to the list each year to receive funds from the town.
“And now it’s up to about the cost of a new police cruiser,” Lauria said.
His main complaint — and the complaint of several others in the room — was that the organizations requesting funds seldom send representatives to the town meetings to explain their financial needs.
As it happened, a woman representing Safe Voices was at the meeting to argue for the $2,000 earmarked for the group. The remaining nine organizations were unrepresented, although several residents spoke on behalf of the group SeniorsPlus.
Ultimately, voters approved funds for five municipal groups but only four — Safe Voices, SeniorsPlus, Tri-County Mental Health and Rural Community Action Ministry — of the 10 nonprofit organizations to which selectmen had recommended payments.
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