FARMINGTON — The ten towns that send their children to the Regional School Unit 9 district have made their decision to allow the district to complete the purchase of the Holman Mission House, located at 227 Main Street in Farmington. The referendum was decided on Tuesday, Nov. 7, with over 3,600 Franklin County residents voting in favor of the purchase.

With approximately 5,433 votes tallied for the referendum, 3,621 residents voted ‘yes’ to approve the purchase of the Holman Mission House, with 1,780 voting ‘no’ and 32 voters leaving their ballot blank.

With the referendum passing, RSU 9 will now utilize $550,000 of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief [ESSER] funds to complete their lease-purchase agreement for the property. If the vote had not gone in RSU 9’s favor, the district would have still utilized the space, but under a 48-month lease.

A public hearing to explain the reasoning behind the purchase was held on Tuesday, Oct. 25, with Superintendent Christian Elkington stating the purpose was rooted in freeing space the district office currently occupies at Mt. Blue High School for student purposes, as well as providing more adequate meeting spaces and better confidentiality when discussing sensitive matters with students and parents.

“It is difficult to maintain confidentiality,” Elkington stated at the hearing. “We can’t really handle very many IEP meetings here at Mt. Blue campus.”

Old South First Congregational Church, the owners of the property, put the house on the market in 2022 after acquiring it in 2002. The house was built by Joseph C. Holman in 1895 and housed three generations of the Holman family. RSU 9 expressed interest in the property roughly 18 months prior to the public hearing based on Elkington’s assessment, but held off due to the considerable amount of work the property needed to service their needs.

After several projects using ESSER funds fell through for a number of reasons, RSU 9 found itself in a position where it could buy the property and make repairs using $550,000 of those funds. RSU 9 expects to have the purchase finalized by the end of November.

The towns that voted, along with the tallied votes, are listed as follows [Yes = Y, No = N, Blank = B]:

• CHESTERVILLE: 266 [Y], 166 [N], 4[B]

• FARMINGTON: 1,366 [Y], 562 [N]

• INDUSTRY: 198 [Y], 105 [N]

• NEW SHARON: 325 [Y], 196 [N], 9 [B]

• NEW VINEYARD: 130 [Y], 104 [N], 2 [B]

• TEMPLE:  119 [Y], 62 [N], 1 [B]

• STARKS: 125 [Y], 63 [N], 2 [B]

• VIENNA: 184 [Y] 48 [N], 4 [B]

• WELD: 150 [Y], 68 [N], 2 [B]

• WILTON: 758 [Y], 406 [N], 8 [B]

• GRAND TOTAL [5,433]: 3,621 [Y], 1.780 [N], 32 [B]

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