OXFORD – In the first of two town meetings to be held this year, Oxford residents approved a town budget of just under $1,295,000 for the first six months of 2004.

In July, the town will adopt a July through June fiscal year, and a second meeting will be held in June to budget money for that period.

Voters were reminded that the budget recommended by the selectmen and budget committee is about half of last year’s budget because it only covers a six-month period. In some cases, the dollar amounts were a little more than half, because of expenses that are only incurred in the beginning of the year.

The amount recommended for the administration account, though, was almost two-thirds of last year’s budgeted $360,000. Town Manager Michael Huston explained that worker’s compensation payments and dues to various organizations are paid in the first part of the year.

In addition, the town is hoping to create a part-time position in the town office. This new position, he said, would be trained to do all the clerk’s and deputy clerk’s duties, making the office more efficient if an employee takes vacation time or extended sick leave.

Voters rejected a request for $7,000 to fund a road inventory using the MDOT’s Road Surface Management System. The RSMS is used to evaluate roads and give an estimate on the cost to fix them. Part of the $7,000 would have been used to hire an intern to enter information gathered by volunteers into the computer program.

Huston said, “If we don’t have the intern to take what volunteers are getting and put it into the computer, then we will find time at the town office to do it, but it won’t be high priority.” He speculated that assessing the town’s roads might take a year longer to do without the intern.

An amended version of the article passed, providing $1,200 for the project, to offset the cost of paper and other supplies.

In a two-hour long process, voters elected officers to seven posts. In order to reach a clear majority, the 150 residents were asked to vote up to three times for some positions.

Scott Owens and David Ivey were elected to three-year terms as selectmen and assessors. Ronald Kugell and Olive Sanborn were elected to three-year terms on the school board, and John Palmer was elected to serve on the school board for one year.