NEW SHARON – Voters rejected enacting a town dog ordinance Saturday and asked selectmen to rework the language and bring it back in June, Selectman Maynard Webster said Saturday.
About 75 residents cast ballots at the annual town meeting, he said.
Voters approved a $505,385 spending package for 2003, about $92,000 less than last year, he said.
The reduction in spending was due to last year voters raised $57,000 for a revaluation, which will be starting in the spring, and $50,000 more for gravel that they didn’t have to raise this year, Webster said.
Voters re-elected incumbent Selectmen Jim Smith, Russell Gardner and Webster to another year’s service. The three men have more than 75 years of service to the town between them.
Town Clerk Rose Mary Eller, Treasurer Miriam Smith and New Sharon Water District Trustee Peter Manter were also re-elected, Webster said.
Voters will also approve transferring up to $130,000 from the fire station reserve fund to pay for a new sand and salt building. The station reserve has about $250,000 in it.
Town officials had opted to ask residents to borrow from that station reserve account instead of borrowing from another source and voters agreed with them Saturday.
There was quite a bit of discussion on it, Webster said, but there was a good solid vote for it in the end.
The building will be built on the town’s land on Kimball Pond Road. Voters already approved borrowing $100,000 for the building last summer to go with $157,000 in reserve for the project, Webster said, but with inflation and rising costs of materials the price rose about $30,000.
The building is expected to cost about $257,000, not including $12,000 in engineering fees.
Selectmen have chosen a contractor, Duraform Steel of Hermon, to construct the building.
Voters rejected two other articles pertaining to borrowing options for the sand/salt building Saturday because they had chose, Webster said.
“There was a fairly good amount of discussion” during the three-hour meeting, Webster said, “which is what town meeting is all about.”
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