Town voters to consider moving library
HANOVER – An important step in the planned relocation of the tiny Gardner Roberts Memorial Library will be decided by residents at Thursday’s annual town meeting.
The meeting is set for 6 p.m. at the Ferry Road Town Office.
The decision on whether to lease a portion of the Town Office lot to the library association is the last of the 40 articles on this year’s warrant. If approved, the lot would be leased to the library association for at least 20 years at a token amount – $1 per year.
The library is located off Howard Pond Road at a site without parking space. The 19th century structure has no electricity.
Moving it to the western portion of the Town Office lot would allow the Victorian-styled library to be hooked up to power.
Town Clerk Clem Worcester said it also would be accessible to more people, and perhaps could be expanded in the future to serve as a historical reference center.
If all the money articles are passed, the municipal budget would rise by more than 20 percent, but the overall tax liability, which includes $185,000 for educating Hanover’s children, would decline slightly.
Last year’s municipal budget came in at almost $125,000. This year’s, if passed, would be just under $155,000. The cost for school tuition, however, would decline from almost $224,000 last year to just over $185,000 for the current fiscal year. Worcester said the tax rate is expected to remain the same if all items are passed. That rate is $15.80 per $1,000 valuation.
Worcester said about $10,000 was added to the town road account to allow for hiring a consultant to devise a long-term plan for maintaining and upgrading the roads. Several accounts have increased by about $1,000, including those for salaries, Oxford County taxes, Med-Care Ambulance Service, cemetery maintenance, and health and welfare agencies.
People will vote for three-year terms for one selectman, which is the seat currently held by 15-year veteran Brenda Gross, and one School Committee member, now held by Ruth Brown. Residents will also vote for town clerk, treasurer and tax collector, all one-year terms currently held by Worcester.
Once a municipal budget is adopted, tax bills are expected to go out during the first week of December.
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