PARIS — Voters zipped through 38 articles with virtually no discussion Monday evening during the annual Town Meeting at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School.
Moderator Vern Maxfield, a Norway resident and the town manager of Woodstock, led about 35 voters through the articles in orderly fashion. Voters passed 36 of the 38 articles with almost no opposition.
The meeting lasted less than 40 minutes.
The two articles that failed were No. 9 on amending the building code ordinance and No. 10 to amend the rental occupancy ordinance. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, neither change was completed in time for the town meeting.
“We’ll get back to it,” Town Manager Dennis Lajoie said.
Voters overwhelmingly favored every budget article. The municipal side of the budget is more than $5.1 million.
The Police Department will receive $896,955, while the Fire Department was approved for $303,131.
The utilities account was budgeted at more than $22,000 less than a year ago due to the installation of LED streetlights.
Capital improvement budget includes $300,000 for roads and $367,175 for other projects and reserves.
One resident questioned the $5,000 being set aside for a fire substation, saying it will take several years to get enough funds to finance the project.
Lajoie said the town needs money for a study and to start developing a fund for the substation. He added that the town would likely borrow the money needed to build the facility.
Voters agreed to require the first half of property taxes be paid by Nov. 20 and the second half by May 21, 2021.
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