BYRON – Residents will have a chance at Monday night’s annual town meeting to act on the town’s first subdivision ordinance.
Concerns were raised a year or so ago about unrestricted development in this tiny town of about 120 people in northern Oxford County.
“We want to keep Byron the way it is. We want to get away from people coming in, buying property, then spending very little on it,” Selectman Steve Duguay said.
He said four subdivisions have been created in past years, terming three of them catastrophic. He cited construction of “horse-drawn paths” instead of appropriate roads through property tracts as an example.
The town’s Planning Board was reinstated late last spring, and its members, headed by David Duguay, have been working on developing a set of rules for subdivisions.
Parts of the proposed subdivision ordinance call for specifications governing sewer and water, drainage, private road widths and lot sizes, among other things.
“In the past, developers could buy 20 or 30 acres and do as they pleased,” said Steve Duguay.
Residents will also act on a municipal budget that is about 17 percent lower than last year’s figure.
If all the money articles are passed in the 32-article warrant, residents will raise almost $91,000 for operation of the town and another $2,000 for requests from social service agencies and other organizations.
The only new agency request this year is from Rumford’s Moontide Water Festival Committee, which is asking for a $500 donation toward the area’s July 4 celebration. Officials are recommending a $200 donation.
Residents will decide whether to grant a 10 percent property discount for taxpayers who pay their taxes in full before the due date. Last year, the town provided more than $17,000 in tax discounts for early payers.
Last year’s municipal budget included $15,000 as a match for a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant of $135,000 for the purchase of a new firetruck.
Town positions up for election from the floor include the seats held by Selectman Steve Ladd, treasurer and Tax Collector Melissa Plourde, and Town Clerk Rosie White. All are expected to run, Plourde said.
What: Byron annual town meeting
When: 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 14
Where: Coos Canyon Schoolhouse
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