Incumbent Tyler Ward handily kept his seat on the Peterborough select board, coming out the clear favorite over challenger Andrea Cadwell in Tuesday’s polls.
Ward will be entering his second term as selectman after defeating Cadwell 977-168.
“I’m just grateful for the support that I’ve gotten,” said Ward on Tuesday night, shortly after receiving the results of the vote count.
Attempts to speak to Cadwell were not successful.
In the only other contested race this year, voters also showed a clear preference for the status quo, re-voting in Library Trustees Marcia Patten and Ronald Bowman for third terms over newcomer challenger Christopher DiLoreto. The three candidates were vying for two seats, with Patten gaining 843 votes, Bowman 720 and DiLoreto 326.
Voters agreed by wide margins to approve the monetary items on the ballot this year, including the budget.
In a 947-202 vote, residents agreed to the proposed $14.8 million budget, which includes the general operation of the town, as well as the operation of the town’s water and wastewater departments. The general government budget is $12.4 million, which represents a 5.8 percent increase from last year’s budget of $11.6.
The town also approved several additions to capital reserve funds – including the creation of some new ones.
Voters approved the opening of a “winter operations” expendable trust and starting the fund with $23,500. The fund will be used when the town, due to the unpredictable nature of winter storms, goes over its general operating budget for things like plowing and removal of snow, or purchasing salt or sand.
The town also agreed to open a new capital reserve fund — this one funded by an additional fee of up to $5 for car registrations. The funds will be used to create bicycle and pedestrian improvements.
While creating new accounts, the town also agreed to close defunct ones — for the Union Street bridge reconstruction, and for a hardware and software upgrade — and transfer the remaining funds into the general fund.
The town also agreed to add $10,000 to the town’s capital reserve for upgrading Geographic Information System, or GIS, maps of the town, and to transfer $3,000 from the Cemetery Trustee’s checking account into the Cemetery Expendable Trust Fund — funded by burial lot purchases, not by taxes.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.