MINOT — Minot voters approved the highway department’s request of a backhoe and three-quarter-ton pickup truck at Saturday’s town meeting, as well as endorsing the $1.7 million municipal budget proposed by selectmen and supported by the Budget Committee.

The backhoe’s cost of $106,000 will be financed and paid for in two years while the new pickup’s price is $19,784 plus the trade-in value of the highway department’s current 4-year-old half-ton pickup. Only $4,784 will need to be raised this year because $15,000 will come from a capital reserve fund.

It took less than an hour and half for moderator Ed Rabasco to usher the 56 warrant questions by the 64 voters at the Minot Consolidated School who only rejected adopting the Maine Uniform Energy Code to the town’s building codes.

Voters did approve the Maine Uniform Building Code which empowers the town code enforcer to compel new construction to abide by state standards.

Changes to the Cemetery Ordinances and updating the Fire Department Ordinances also passed as was shifting $75,000 from the Undesignated Fund Balance to a designated Revaluation Reserve Fund since it is likely the town will undergo revaluation in the next two years at a cost of $150,000.

The new $1.7 million budget is up slightly over last year’s $1.66 million budget.

Selectmen Chairman Steve French opened the proceedings by speaking about the contributions Donald Verrill and Michael Hemond had made to the town. The town report was dedicated to Verrill and Hemond, who both died in 2019.

French also honored Hester Gilpatric and the Minot Community Club as the 2019 and 2020 recipients, respectively, of the Spirit of America Awards, which honors outstanding achievements in community service.

Susie Bradbury, whose photograph of Slattery’s flower gardens is on the cover of the town report, was also recognized.

Results from Friday night’s municipal election had Brittany Hemond re-elected to the Board of Selectmen with 55 votes. Elected to serve on the Regional School Unit 16 board of directors were Michael Lacasse for three years and James Crouse for one year. Lacasse received 44 votes and Crouse 55. Jessica Smith received 13 write-in votes for the three-year term.

The ordinance to allow the Sunday sale of liquor for on-premise consumption at licensed establishments passed by a vote of 42-17.

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