ROXBURY — Twenty-five voters at Sunday’s annual town meeting approved all 82 warrant articles in just under two hours at the Town Office.
Tax Collector and Treasurer Renee Hodsdon said the municipal budget for 2022-23 is $573,475, a drop from last year’s $671,809, largely due to the final $110,000 payment for a road bond in November.
It does not include assessments for Oxford County and Regional School Unit 10.
Several of the items involved the Town Office building, including the generator, an electric sign, the heating system and roof repair.
The Town of Roxbury also donated the 2021 Town Report in memory of Rodney “Bing” Cross.
Cross moved to Roxbury in 2009 and became a selectman for the town in 2015, serving for seven years until his passing on Dec. 4, 2021.
In the Town Report, officials wrote, “Bing was an outdoor enthusiast, making Roxbury the perfect place for him. He loved his family and friends, and his dog, Maggie. He will be greatly missed!”
Matthew Patneaude, who recently retired as a 22-year member of the Roxbury Fire Department, was voted in to fill the remaining two years of the selectman’s term served by Cross. He also serves as the town’s Emergency Management Agency administrator.
Re-elected to three-year terms were Board Chairman Tim Derouche and Renee Hodsdon as the tax collector/treasurer.
Voters approved $10,000 from the town’s allotment of the federal American Rescue Plan Act to purchase an electronic sign for the Town Office.
Derouche said, “We expect that to be around $27,000 to $30,000,” Derouche said. “We raised some monies, so this ($10,000) should be enough to do the job this year.”
Another article adds $24,000 to the town building repair account.
“We have a boiler issue with the heat system, and they’re recommending changing that out,” Derouche said. “Because of that boiler, it’s damaged the roof. We’re going to have a full inspection of that and repair whatever is needed on both issues.”
Voters approved $2,900 for maintenance and repair for the town building generator.
“We put in a new generator last year in the Town Office so it could be used as a place for people in case of an emergency,” Derouche said. “No emergency has come up yet, but it does come on when we lose power.”
Voters gave selectmen authority to apply for state financing to replace the floating dock access on Ellis Pond, with the town raising $25,000 for all or part of the local share.
“We have a donated wooden floating dock for loading and unloading boats now,” Derouche said. “It’s getting beyond repair and we want to put in a good aluminum one that will last forever. Our boat launch gets a lot of use. We’re trying to make it ADA compliant.”
Derouche said the town is also looking to raise additional funding for the tax collector/treasurer position, as well as for an assistant for the town clerk.
“We just can’t run the town efficiently right now, so we’re looking for seven more hours for Renee. She’s only getting 25 hours right now.”
He said that in the future they hope to have Hodsdon as the town administrator, then we have two people in the office.”
As an administrator, Derouche said Hodsdon would be provided with additional training and will also be the grant writer for the town.
Hodsdon works three days a week.

 

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