Over 170 Jaffrey voters sat in their cars in the Hope Fellowship Church parking lot on Saturday, holding voting cards out their windows to have their say on town issues, after months of delay.
Despite the unusual location, the meeting ran smoothly, with voters registering as they drove in, staggered parking, and listening to the discussion through their car radios or over a loudspeaker system in the parking lot. As residents came up to three prepared microphones to offer their feedback on articles, their fellow voters honked in support of their points.
Voters had little to say on some of the largest expenditures on the warrant. The issue that drew the most discussion was how Jaffrey should vote on issues moving forward, as voters went back and forth on the issue of whether to keep traditional Town Meeting or to switch to the ballot voting system known as SB2.
While the final vote on the matter had voters in favor of keeping Town Meeting, the petition article had more discussion than any other issue, including million dollar bonds for infrastructure projects or the budget.
Peter Chamberlain, who championed the petition article, spoke to it, saying “It’s time to move forward and allow more people to vote.”
Others also backed the idea of switching to ballot voting, with Jaffrey resident Dominique Caissie saying she had to give up a good portion of her weekly income to attend Saturday’s meeting, and not all interested voters have the ability to take off work to attend. Rick Lambert of Jaffrey said Saturday’s meeting was the first he’s been able to attend in a number of years, as he winters in warmer climates, and he’d like the ability to submit an absentee ballot – something allowed under the SB2 system, but not Town Meeting.
The majority of speakers, however, were in favor of keeping Town Meeting, speaking of it’s long tradition and community spirit, as well as pointing out potential drawbacks of SB2’s deliberative session, where voters debate and amend articles before they’re put on the ballot, which have historically low turnouts.
Voters eventually voted 46-112 against implementing SB2, falling short of a majority and well short of the three-fifths majority needed to pass the measure.
Voters also approved a bond which will allow the town to partner with the town of Peterborough in purchasing the Coldstone Springs property, which has three drilled wells which will be used to provide drinking water for both towns. Jaffrey proposes to bond a total of $3 million for the project, as well as applying for grants and using existing water department funds. Select Board Chair Franklin Sterling told the assembly that all of the funds would be raised through water revenue, as well as a significant contribution from MilliporeSigma in Jaffrey, who is anticipating heavily increasing its water usage in the coming years as part of a business expansion.
With savings from retiring a previous bond, as well as the anticipated increase in demand from MilliporeSigma, the town does not anticipate having to raise water rates to pay back the bond.
Voters approved the project 135-25 in a ballot vote with little discussion.
Voters also gave the go-ahead for the town to apply for a $1 million note to do roadwork, the first step in what Selectman Kevin Chamberlain described as a $6 million backlog of paving and road repair the town needs to tackle. That article was approved 144-14 in a ballot vote.
The Select Board made several amendments to the warrant during Saturday’s meeting, after explaining that they were seeking to reduce some of the articles saving for future capital improvements due to an expected decrease in some of the state revenue from taxes such as the gas and rooms and meals tax due to the coronavirus.
Voters offered no objections to the changes, and passed over purchasing a new dump truck using capital reserve funds, and putting $50,000 in a reserve for the building of a new town office. They also agreed with no discussion to accept the recommendation to reduce an addition to the highway capital reserve fund from $160,000 to $80,000 and $200,000 to the municipal building maintenance fund to $50,000.
All other warrant articles passed with only brief explanations and little conflict.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.