By KATY SAVAGE
Special to the Eagle Times
CHARLESTOWN— Incumbent Selectboard Chair Art Grenier will face challenger Albert St. Pierre in today’s election.
Grenier’s seat is only one being challenged. The other two seats on the board are occupied by Steven Neill and Thomas Cobb.
St. Pierre has served on just about every committee and board in this town and neighboring towns, he said, but he’s never run for the selectboard.
In addition to picking a selectboard member on Tuesday, voters will be presented with the town’s $5.1 million combined operating, water and sewer budgets, which is up about 8 percent from last year’s budget. The budget doesn’t include appropriations from warrant articles.
St. Pierre, 58, is challenging Grenier for a three-year term at this year’s Town Meeting Day partly because he wants to lower the education tax rate — an issue that’s long impacted Charlestown’s taxes.
“I tried (to reduce taxes) on the school board,” St. Pierre said. “I was unable to resolve it there, so I think the town needs to put more pressure on the schools. As a selectman, I would plan to do that.”
Grenier is a lifelong resident of Charlestown. He currently chairs the selectboard, which he’s been part of the past six years. He said wants to keep serving to give back to his town.
Grenier, 42, shared concerns about the education tax rate.
Grenier called the school’s funding formula “unsustainable.” Grenier said he’s worked with the Fall Mountain school board the past four years to keep taxes down.
Charlestown is one of five towns part of Fall Mountain Regional School District. The school district’s $30.2 million budget is about level-funded from the previous year, but Charlestown’s school tax could increase at least $1.13 per $1,000 of assessed property value or more if voters approve all the articles.
Charlestown carries the heaviest tax burden of any of the towns, partly due to a formula that’s based around the number of students. Charlestown has 450 students, which is about 45 percent of the student population in the district.
“Charlestown pays a disproportionate share of that budget because of that formula,” said St. Pierre. “I think it’s time to separate from the high school and look at our options.”
St. Pierre petitioned for a special article on Town Meeting Day that will ask voters for $5,000 to fund researching education alternatives.
St. Pierre suggested paying tuition for high school students to attend nearby Springfield High School or Stevens High School.
St. Pierre co-owns St. Pierre Inc. Sand and Gravel. He counted more than 30 boards and committees he’s been involved with since he graduated from high school. St. Pierre’s opponent is also an active community member.
Grenier works as a patrol foreman for the state of New Hampshire. Grenier said he married his wife — another lifelong resident of Charlestown — and raised three children in Charlestown.
“I want the best for Charlestown and the best that it can be,” Grenier said. “I thought we’ve accomplished a lot of good things within the town and I want to continue some of the things we have going,” he said, mentioning he was involved in restructuring the ambulance service to improve response rate.
One of the larger appropriations on the ballot is a $30,000 expense to rehabilitate the town pool.
The public pool ages back to the mid-70s, officials said. The interior of the pool is falling apart and the concrete decks needs to be fixed. Officials estimate the total cost to fix the pool will be $90,000. The selectboard plans to ask voters for the money over a three-year period.
Other major appropriations include:
• 25,000 for a town-wide reappraisal, mandated every five years.
• $25,000 for a town library masonry restoration project.
• $41,500 to purchase a new transfer station truck to replace one that’s about seven years old. The total cost of the truck, $186,000, would be paid for over five years in a lease-purchase agreement.
Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Charlestown Senior Center today.
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