LISBON – Town meeting began Monday night, with voters taking action on 66 of 93 articles on the town warrant.
Among the highlights, voters:
• Approved a citizen-petitioned article to rezone a section of Route 9 from residential to general residential. The vote was 120-43. The article was opposed by the Planning Board, which requested that no changes be made until an updated Comprehensive Plan was completed.
• Agreed to use $625,000 from the undesignated fund balance to reduce property taxes, as proposed by selectmen and the Advisory Board.
• Defeated several additional motions to transfer more money from the undesignated fund balance to reduce the amount to be raised by taxes. Selectmen said the town had to keep a certain percentage in that account. However, Selectman Layne Curtis successfully amended the $646,564 Public Works budget by taking $3,000 from the fund to go toward the Green Thumb Gang community gardens.
• Approved a $1 million police budget.
• Approved the selectmen’s request of $260,087 for the Fire Department instead of the $239,783 recommended by the Advisory Board. The lesser amount would have meant cutting 10 positions, Fire Chief P. Sean Galipeau said. Advisory Board members countered that some of those positions hadn’t been filled for years.
• Approved $500,000 in bonds to go with the $350,000 on hand for redesigning and installing grit and rag removal systems at the wastewater treatment plant.
• Voted to sell the now-closed Lisbon Village Library.
• Gave a standing ovation to Faye Brown, who has coordinated the volunteer Green Thumb Gang for the past eight years, when she announced she would retire at the end of the year. The group has established more than 20 public flower gardens throughout the town.
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