SABATTUS – Voters decided Friday night to move toward hiring a town manager and to add two selectmen to the three-member board.

The town meeting article asked that a committee be formed to study the feasibility of hiring a manager and elect two more selectmen.

“We do need help on the board,” Chairman William Luce said.

School Committee member Yvonne Winslow asked why have more selectmen in light of possibly hiring a town manager.

Selectman Stephen Wood said most towns with a manager have five selectmen.

Only two other towns in the area, Durham and Wales, lack town managers and five-member boards, Luce said.

A town manager would cost $50,000 per year at a minimum, Selectwoman Rudy Gayton said earlier in the week. He opposed the article.

Residents quashed an article asking to hire a full-time fire chief, who would also act as building and equipment caretaker and do some minor truck maintenance. The position would have cost $30,000 per year.

A similar article was defeated last year at town meeting.

Voters approved raising $5,000 as the town’s share of a $10,000 state planning grant to upgrade the comprehensive plan, to set the direction of the town for the next 10 years. The work will include, among other things, updating town maps for roads and aquifers. The current plan is more than 10 years old.

A total of 115 of the 3,014 registered voters turned out for what looked like the only night of town meeting this year. They got through 43 of 57 articles by 9:20 p.m. One resident made a motion at 9:10 p.m. to adjourn until Saturday at 9 a.m., but it was defeated.

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