NEWRY – Voters attending the 7 p.m. Monday, March 7, town meeting at the Bear River Grange Hall on Route 26 are expected to have full stomachs.
A traditional potluck supper is to be held at 5:30 p.m. in the hall, said Administrative Assistant Loretta Berry.
Participants, she said, need not bring something special, “just something good.”
As for the 56-article warrant, voters will be asked to approve a proposed $614,826 budget for the 2005-06 fiscal year. It represents a $38,304 decrease from last year’s approved budget of $653,130.
The budget does not include the town’s SAD 44 assessment, which in 2004 was $1,955,867, nor Newry’s Oxford County assessment, which last year was $170,866.
Those figures are added later in the year when they become known, Berry said.
“We have no say in them, so we don’t put them in,” she added.
Among the money articles, voters are asked to raise and appropriate:
• $156,000 for sanitation to pay all fees and membership charges for Tri-Town Solid Waste, Oxford County Recycling
• $107,125 for administration and salaries
• $80,500 for highways and bridges
• $53,183 for operation and maintenance of the Fire Department
• $50,000 for highway capital improvements to build up the account to reconstruct the intersection of Monkey Brook and Sunday River roads
And, because 2005 is the year Newry is to celebrate its bicentennial, Article 44 seeks to raise $6,000 for the town celebration reserve account.
Berry said the money is needed to cover the costs of fireworks and entertainment for the July 8-10 event.
Municipal officers, whose terms are up, include Selectman Wendy Hanscom, constable and dog officer Alan Fleet, and SAD 44 director Kathi Schandelmeier.
Newry nominates and elects from the floor.
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