CANTON — The annual Town Meeting will be held Saturday, June 18, to accommodate those who can’t attend on a weeknight, selectmen announced at their meeting Thursday.
The time and location have not yet been decided.
Selectman Brian Keene said several residents said it would be easier for them on a Saturday morning because they work during the week. Meetings have previously been held Thursday evenings.
Elections for the Board of Selectmen, Planning Board and Regional School Unit 56 board of directors will be held from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, at the Town Office.
The board also voted against a 20- to 25-year contract with Green Lantern Solar company of Waterbury, Vermont, which was proposed to help save on utility costs.
Keene and Chairman Russell Adams, Vice Chairwoman Carole Robbins and Kristi Carrier said they were concerned about the length of the agreement. Selectman Scotty Kilbreth was absent.
“I think it’s a good idea and I like the thought of saving money on electricity for the town,” Keene said. “My concern is the length of the 20- or 25-year contract. If it was five or 10 years I’d be a lot more for it.”
Carrier said she thought the compensation information in the contract was a little vague and the “compensation is pretty low.”
Dave Madison, superintendent of the Canton Sewer Department, addresses selectmen at the Town Office on Thursday evening about the need to replace equipment, including a generator, a sump pump and lights. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times
Green Lantern Solar representative Kim Bowie told the board at its Jan. 13 meeting that the town would save an estimated $1,256 annually on its utility bill.
In another matter, Sewer Department Superintendent Dave Madison said the department needs to replace the main generator in the main pump station on School Street and a sump pump and lights in the main office building and pump station.
Regarding the town’s student scholarship policy, the board decided to create a committee to process applications and to increase the original award from $1,000 to $2,000.
Previously, the scholarship was awarded to the high school graduate with the highest grade point average.
“The hard thing is, we’ve given to the top GPA student,” Keene said, and “at least twice that I know recently, that student didn’t go on” to higher education. If they don’t want to go to college, they don’t get the scholarship, he said.
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