WELD — Voters will go to the polls to elect town officials Tuesday from 4 to 8 p.m. in the multipurpose room at the town office/post office complex on Mill Street, four days before the annual Town Meeting.

“Lisa Miller is uncontested for a three-year seat on the Select Board,” Town Clerk Carol Cochran said. “Brian Haynes is not seeking reelection.”

“Debbie Smith is the only one running for the school board position,” Cochran said. Smith is vice chairwoman of the Regional School Union 9 board of directors. The position is for three years.

There is a five-year and a one-year term open on the Planning Board and no nomination papers have been taken out for either. The seats were held by Nancy Stowell and Tom Wheeler, Cochran said.

Budget Committee members Russell Banton and Linda Healey are seeking reelection to three-year terms, Cochran said.

The Town Meeting will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 4, at the town hall on School Street.

Among the issues to be decided is a proposal from Matrix Design Group that would make broadband telecommunications services available to all 911 addresses, recognizing all state holidays for full-time employees and changing the day of Town Meeting.

“At the 2020 Town Meeting the town authorized the Select Board to proceed with negotiations with Matrix,” board Chairman Richard Doughty wrote in an email Tuesday. “As more details of the proposal and the cost to the town and subscribers emerged, public support diminished.”

A survey last summer indicated a large majority were not interested in paying more for enhanced internet service and/or using taxpayer dollars to support internet infrastructure upgrades.

In recognizing all state holidays for full-time employees, Doughty said the intent of the proposed article is to provide voters an opportunity to establish a policy that would apply to all four full-time employees.

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Changing the date of the annual Town Meeting will also be debated and decided.

“The town recently voted to hold municipal elections on the Tuesday before Town Meeting to coincide with statewide primary elections and avoid having two elections back to back,” Doughty wrote. “Statewide primary elections are held on the first Tuesday in March. In 2024, that is March 5. We are proposing municipal elections on that day, with the Town Meeting the following Saturday.”

Voters will also be asked to approve a $710,915 budget recommended by selectmen and the Budget Committee. It is an increase of $92,397, or 14.9%, from last year’s $618,518. The plan does not include $22,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act, which voters approved last year, Cochran said.

As part of the budget, voters will be asked to approve pay increases for positions with the exception of road commissioner and heavy equipment operator.

“The Budget Committee deliberated at length and decided to recommend a percentage increase and suggest that future adjustments be based on a percentage increase tied to the cost-of-living adjustment (with some cap),” Doughty wrote. “The Public Works department was excluded due to the raises that were approved last August.”
Health insurance in the new budget is increased by $27,503 under General Government, from $2,000 to $29,503, and by $45,902 under Public Works, from $6,516 to $52,418.
At the special town meeting last August the town approved generous insurance benefits for employees who work 30 hours per week or more, Doughty wrote. “That includes two employees in General Government and two in Public Works. The increases reflect the town’s share of premiums.”

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annual town elections, annual town meeting, weld maine
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