By Elijah de Castro
The Keene Sentinel
ALSTEAD, N.H. — For nearly four hours Saturday, residents at Alstead Town Hall voted to send several warrant articles to March’s ballot, with significant discussion over a warrant article to use an electronic ballot-counting device for town elections.
A total of 55 of the town’s 1,466 registered voters attended, a 3.75% turnout.
The town’s proposed operating budget was passed to the ballot without amendments or discussion. The figure is $2.16 million, up $214,201, or about 11%, from the $1.95 million budget voters approved last year. If voters reject that budget at the polls in March, a default figure of $1.9 million will go into effect.
Voters also increased proposed contributions to several capital reserve funds. For example, the original warrant called for adding $12,500 to the library’s reserve, but voters doubled that amount with the aim of using that money for building repairs.
Voters moved forward an article that, if passed next month, would change the format of town meeting to a traditional town meeting. The town has had an SB2 format, which involves a deliberative session followed by voting at the polls, since 1996. If the article passes, both discussion and voting will happen at an annual town meeting.
Selectman Joel McCarty said after Saturday’s meeting that though the deliberative session format draws more participation at the voting stage, fewer voters turn out to the deliberative session where the discussion takes place. The selectboard, he added, believes that a traditional town meeting format would encourage resident participation in the discussion.
Although resident Bruce Bellows supports rescinding SB2, he joined several citizens who said they want voters to be informed about the nuances of what they’re voting on.
“They will get all this stuff to read, but they won’t hear about this capital reserve fund or that one,” Bellows said.
A petition article on the warrant asking to approve the purchase of a ballot-counting machine for $7,500 drew much discussion and later was passed to the ballot with minor amendment to language.
If the article passes in March, the town will transition away from hand-counting ballots. The town would cover $4,500 of the cost and the N.H. Secretary of State’s Office would cover the rest.
“I have no doubts that this machine will do us a fabulous job and save a little money,” said selectboard member Matt Saxton, who nevertheless described his concern that moving to electronic voting machines would decrease volunteer participation in elections. “It is, to me, yet another way to sell our community to a machine.”
Voters also passed to the ballot without amendment an article that would have the town conduct a feasibility study on leaving the Fall Mountain Regional School District. If the article passes next month, a committee will study the proposal and report its findings to the State Board of Education. If the board approves a withdrawal plan, it would go before voters in a future school-district-wide vote.
Misty Gratacos, selectboard office administrator, previously said town officials are considering the proposal because Walpole officials are mulling withdrawal from the district. Voters there agreed to a feasibility study at last year’s town meeting and Gratacos said such a decision would have financial ramifications for Alstead voters.
In addition to Alstead and Walpole, the Fall Mountain Regional School District includes Acworth, Charlestown and Langdon.
Another warrant article that voters sent to the polls without amendment would fund the purchase of turnout gear for the fire department. If voters approve the measure next month, $12,000 for the gear will come from taxes and $4,000 from American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Alstead Fire Chief Michael Kercewich said the department’s old firefighting gear has PFAS, a group of substances also known as “forever chemicals” because they are hard to break down. These chemicals are known to cause cancer and a host of other diseases including thyroid damage and liver disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Our gear is only good for 10 years,” Kercewich said. “Now that they’ve found cancer causing agents, there’s new gear that’s coming up that does not have that in it anymore.”
Elections will be held at the Alstead Town Hall on Tuesday, March 11, when polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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