By JEFF EPSTEIN
[email protected]
PLAINFIELD — Voters went to the voting booths at the elementary school here Tuesday to choose new town officials and decide on proposed changes to the zoning ordinance.
This was the first of two parts of Plainfield’s town meeting. The second part is when voters gather in school gymnasium on Saturday, March 16 to vote in public on a dozen other articles on the town warrant.
In Article 1, voters chose officeholders. One three-year term on the select board was open, and there were three candidates: Judith A. Belyea (255), Eric R. Brann (309)√ and Mark H. Home (21)
For a three-year library trustee term, voters could pick two from candidates Patricia T. Rondeau (240), Jennifer Lenz (266)√, Judy Ptak (288)√, or Suzanne Spencer (227). Another contest, for a two-year library trustee, was between John W. Hendrick (255), and Jeanne Woodward-Poor (407)√.
Some offices on the ballot had only one choice: Margaret Drye for cemetery trustee, Michelle Marsh for town clerk, and Jesse Staker for trustee of trust funds.
Article 2 (Question 1) proposed changing the rules for granting special exemptions from zoning rules. The board of adjustment can only grant an exemption if it finds that all specified conditions were met, and the question is about replacing the list of those conditions. The vote was 443 Yes and 79 No.
Article 2 (Question 2) was also about replacing a block of zoning-related text, in this case Section 5.5, which has to do with appeals to the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The vote was 407 Yes and 56 No.
School district elections were uncontested. Victoria Ramos-Glew and Jenny Ramsey were elected to the school board and Lisa Elder is the school district clerk, Paul Franklin the school district moderator, and Jeffrey Moore the school district treasurer.
On Saturday, voters will decide on the remaining articles (see the warrant for the official text):
Article 3: raising and spending $975,000 for the replacement of the Meriden Library building, with $487,500 coming from bonds or notes, and the remainder through donations to the Meriden Library Foundation.
Article 4: To raise and appropriate $135,000 from the unassigned fund balance to retire all outstanding debt of the Plainfield Volunteer Fire Department. This is part of the fire department municipalization project approved at the 2017 town meeting.
Article 5: the town budget of $2.36 million, broken out on the town warrant.
Article 6: $242,500 to be applied to various capital reserve and trust funds, broken out on the town warrant.
Article 7: $155,000 for purchase of a dump truck.
Article 8: regarding elderly exemptions from property tax.
Article 9: regarding the exemption for the disabled.
Article 10: regarding the adoption of an exemption from property tax for the deaf and hearing impaired.
Article 11: to see if the select board will appoint a committee to continue KUA/Plainfield study.
Article 12: regarding the appointment of an advisory finance committee.
Article 13: regarding reports of town officers.
Article 14: to transact any other business that may legally come before the meeting.
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