DURHAM – School consolidation with the towns of Freeport and Pownal will move a step closer with a special Jan. 13 election when voters elect three representatives from Durham to the new Regional School Unit 5 Board of Directors.

Freeport will have six seats on the board and Pownal two. Voters in the three towns agreed on Nov. 4 to consolidate, which effectively ends Durham’s long association with Lisbon as School Union 30 on June 30, 2009. The new Durham, Freeport Pownal RSU will become operational on July, 1, 2009.

Cori Holt, Melinda McKechnie and Laurie Poissonnier are running unopposed for the three seats allocated to Durham.

Absentee ballots will be available beginning Monday, Dec. 15, and the election will take place at the Durham Elementary School gymnasium Jan. 13. Polls will be open from 8 a.m through 8 p.m. Anyone not registered to vote may do so at the town office prior to the election, or at the polls on election day with the required proof of residency. For more information on voting, call Durham Town Clerk Shannon Plourde at 353-2561, ext. 2.