OTISFIELD – A warrant article that would make several elected positions in the town hired positions will be on the agenda at the town meeting in March for a vote by taxpayers.
“It makes sense. If you look around the area, I think we are one of the only towns that still elects a town clerk and a road commissioner,” Selectman Tom Nurmi said Thursday. “There has been talk about it for a long time.”
The positions include town clerk/treasurer, tax collector, road commissioner and recreation director, Nurmi said.
The Board of Selectmen voted to approve placing the article on the town meeting agenda at their regular meeting on Wednesday.
Nurmi said the Government Study Committee will hold a public hearing about the issue at some point prior to the March meeting.
Selectmen also voted to hold a second town meeting on June 17 to adhere to the town’s transition next year to a fiscal year operating cycle.
If the article is approved, selectmen would be able to screen applicants for hired positions to ascertain whether their background and qualifications match the job descriptions, Nurmi said.
Board Chairman Mark Cyr said if the article does not pass, the elected positions will be carried forward until the June 17 town meeting, when they will be up for re-election.
Otisfield will transition from its current calendar year operating cycle to a fiscal year cycle beginning July 1, 2006, so the town’s budget cycle is aligned with the school district and the county.
The traditional town meeting will still be held in March to shore up the budget for the first six months of the year, Cyr said.
In 2007, the town will begin holding one annual meeting every June. Cyr said Selectman Lenny Adler has said he does not anticipate serving on the board beyond the March meeting. He has the option to resign in March and an election would be held at that time for a new board member. He could also stay in his position until June 17. “He has that option, to not be carried over and to step down in March,” Cyr said. “He has not made a decision.”
Comments are no longer available on this story