HARTFORD — Selectmen ranked funding for schools and the town salt and sand shed at the top of a list for state Sen. John L. Patrick, D-Oxford County, Thursday night in response to a letter seeking input on topics affecting local communities.

Patrick wrote that now was the best time to introduce legislation on issues of local concern. While bills can be introduced later, he said the process becomes more involved after the Legislature sets cloture.

Selectmen Jack Plumley and Lee Holman joined other towns in putting school funding at the top of their list. Their other major concern was that the state still has not paid its share of the cost for the new salt-sand shed. Plumley said that the town of Peru built a shed at the same time as Hartford and it has also not yet received the promised state funding.

Holman said she will call Patrick to discuss possible legislation. She said there is concern, especially among animal owners, about fireworks. She said that during periods of heavy use the fireworks cause panic among the livestock far in excess of what comes from an occasional gunshot.

Town Clerk Lianne Bedard asked selectmen to also include a request that the state law forbidding political signs within 250 feet of a polling place be amended to include signs on private property.

There was considerable discussion about winter roads. Holman said a persistent trouble spot was Farrand Hill Road. Due to road closures over the years, the only way to get to this three-quarter-mile Hartford road is to travel about 5 miles through Canton. She said while she understood why the snowplow operator concentrated on the contiguous Hartford roads first, the residents on Farrand Hill Road deserve to have their road kept open.

She suggested that Canton be approached about taking over the plowing of Hartford's portion of Farrand Hill Road in return for Hartford plowing an equal stretch of Canton roads.

Selectmen appointed Bedard to be register of voters. There are openings on the Planning Board and the Board of Appeals. Holman said that any resident wishing to serve their neighbors by volunteering for one of these boards should contact the Town Office.