STRONG — Voters were generous with their tax dollars at this year’s town meeting, adding nearly $5,000 to the proposed 2012 budget.

The meeting convened Friday afternoon with the election of officers. Incumbents Joan Reed and Mike Carleton were re-elected by a wide margin, defeating challengers Mike Pond and write-in candidate Mary White. Carleton received 119 votes and Reed received 107 votes, while Pond received 87 votes and White received 20 votes. Dr. Ann Schwink garnered 136 votes to continue to represent Strong as an SAD 58 school board director.

On Saturday morning, voters quickly rejected the option to reduce the streetlight budget. Selectmen and the Budget Committee had recommended cutting the $7,800 electric bill by half, which meant shutting off half of the town’s streetlights. Central Maine Power Co. owns the lights and fixtures, but selectmen could look at other power providers to compare rates.

“It sounds like we’re not ready to do this,” Dean Stanley said. “Let’s not put the cart before the horse.”

Voters approved keeping all lights on for another year and charged selectmen with finding alternative options to reduce costs.

Selectmen and the Budget Committee requested $1,200 for the recreation account, but resident Gil Reed suggested that young people in the community were worth a larger investment, and voters agreed to contribute an additional $600 to that account.

Selectmen Jim Burrill explained a discrepancy in the landfill account request, saying that the correct figure was nearly $5,000 more than the warrant article request of $13,000.

“We closed the books in December, but we didn’t get our final bill from Sandy River Recycling until February,” he said. “That money had lapsed to surplus, but we have to add money to this year’s budget to pay it.”

Burrill said the town would be obligated by state law to pay a one-time fee when the town’s landfill monitoring program is revised this year. Voters approved adding an additional $5,000 to that account. Voters had agreed to postpone paving roads last year, so Urban-Rural Initiative Program money was rolled into this year’s account. Voters approved an additional $10,000, providing $69,304 for paving.

The Planning Board had prepared an updated Site Plan Review Ordinance to address current state requirements, setbacks for various types of commercial or industrial businesses and overall safety issues. Although the board held two public hearings and had the town’s attorney review and approve changes, voters at the meeting decided they did not know enough about the new ordinance revisions to vote for or against it. Perry Ellsworth suggested that for the best possible dialogue, the article should be moved to the morning discussion before lunch.

“I talked to a whole bunch of people this morning, and they’ve indicated to me that they don’t know what it’s about,” he said. “I’m sure the Planning Board has worked hard on it with the best of intentions.”

Voters, by written ballot, did not approve moving the article out of order, and in the afternoon, Sue Pratt asked to have the article postponed indefinitely. Voters approved that suggestion, so the town will continue with the existing ordinance until the Planning Board decides whether to request a special town meeting or wait until the 2013 meeting.

Voters approved taking $250,000 from surplus to reduce the tax commitment and approved a final budget of $538,307, which is $9,150 more than the original request.