RUMFORD – An advisory question on whether to eliminate the traditional annual town meeting in favor of secret ballot voting at the polls may require another vote come November, Town Clerk Jane Giasson said late Wednesday afternoon.
The advisory consisted of four nonbinding choices, only one of which was to be picked by each voter. According to the balloting results, however, it appears that voters misunderstood the question and voted for more than one option.
Option A asked if the town should continue to maintain the status quo regarding open town meeting to approve the budget at the meeting. It passed 362-154.
Option B – to vote on budgetary items by secret ballot at the annual business meeting – was approved 462-123.
Option C asked if the town should vote on all budgetary items by secret ballot at the polls on the day of the election meeting, held the second Tuesday in June. The vote was 624-109.
Option D asked if the town should establish a town council form of government, which would handle the budgetary items. It passed 224-195.
No one seemed to know what that meant at the town office on Wednesday afternoon, so, Giasson referred all queries to Town Manager Stephen Eldridge, who won’t be back in town until today.
The nonbinding advisory was triggered by a petition circulated by a group known as Concerned Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility. They gathered 1,200 signatures requesting the change from annual town meeting hand vote on the municipal budget, to a secret ballot at the polls. If that option was selected, the annual town meeting would be eliminated.
Also Tuesday, voters also overwhelmingly adopted an ordinance to regulate the establishment of sexually oriented businesses, 831-365. The purpose of the law is to regulate their operations while providing a reasonable opportunity for such businesses to exist.
Among the restrictions, such businesses would have to be a minimum of 1,000 feet from residences, schools, churches, playgrounds, parks and other areas where children congregate.
They also approved the establishment of a charter commission to revise the municipal charter or write a new charter, and they agreed to amend the charter to remove all references to the School Committee, which no longer exists.
Voters agreed to protect both Scotty Brook and Ellis River aquifers by a vote of 1,056 to 181, adopting the amended wellhead protection ordinance.
Residents OK’d an amendment to allow a household to own four dogs without having to get a kennel license, provided the animal control officer approves. The vote was 652-587.
By a 923-301 tally, voters OK’d an amendment that clarified penalty language in the dog ordinance and created a range of possible fines from $25 to $50 per incident, with a cumulative maximum of $2,500.Voters also adopted an amendment that raised release and impoundment fees, placing the financial burden for loose dogs more on the owner. The vote was 910-320.
Additionally, they voted 873-229 to repeal a street-naming and numbering ordinance and replaced it with an addressing ordinance recommended by the Fire Department.
In other business, two write-ins each won a three-year SAD 43 board term, for which there were no candidates. Tracey Higley, a former SAD 43 director, accepted the seat, but the other write-in has yet to be confirmed, Giasson said.
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