LIVERMORE – All 52 articles were passed at the town meeting on Thursday night.
Among items of note was Article 51, which accepts a $21,230 comprehensive planning grant from the State Planning Office. Livermore will appropriate $7,006 as a match.
“Agencies want a coordinated approach to doing things,” said Administrative Assistant Kurt Schaub, “which is what this article does. Once the process is done, it will help us get more grants for the town.”
Related to planning, Article 36 amends the site plan review process to treat “grandfathered” businesses on the same level as newer businesses.
“This is strictly for commercial uses,” said Schaub, noting it doesn’t apply to residential property.
Mike Shea said that business are coming north, and the review process would be a deterrent.
“We want to just keep them back from the road a bit,” said Schaub. “We’re not prohibiting new businesses from coming in to town.”
In other matters:
Article 6 bans overnight street parking from Nov. 15 to April 15. Resident Mike Shea asked, “has this been much of a problem?”
Schaub said that “it does come up periodically, its just to keep vehicles out of the way of snow plows. Its pretty hard to go around them and then if a plow does do some damage, they will go to the town for reimbursement. That’s why its on the books.”
Lionel Castonguay questioned Article 13 and whether an 11 percent per year interest on unpaid property taxes was fair. “Why 11 percent? That’s more than banks are getting,” said Castonguay.
Schaub said the rate is what the state recommends. He told Castonguay it costs the town that much.
Article 22 received quite a bit of discussion as it asks for $210,000 to be appropriated for capital road improvement.
Mike Shea asked, “When we talk about fixing roads,’ why do we not fix the roads?”
They are not fixed 100 percent he said.
Selectperson Tom Berry said that they have made some mistakes in the past, but those have been corrected.
Schaub said the amount being asked for is based on inflation and new value.
The money will be used for the Strickland Road, and possibly the North Turkey Lane bridge.
Castonguay said, “I would like to see the Norlands’ Road fixed. It was probably in better condition when the Washburns lived there than it is now.”
Before the meeting started, Moderator Darryl Brown delivered the results of Tuesday’s voting.
Re-elected were Selectperson Grace Jacques with 254 votes, Selectperson Brenda Merrill with 169 votes, Treasurer Kurt Schaub with 234 votes and Town Clerk Renda Libby, with 283 votes.
Brown also asked for and received a moment of silence for those who have passed this past year, and for Darcy Gammon Wakefield, to whom the annual report was dedicated, saying, “She touched many of our lives in many, many ways.”
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