The Town of Peterborough proposed canceling the town’s deliberative session and hold a ballot-only voting session in lieu of an in-person Town Meeting this year. Town officials are encouraging residents to use absentee ballots to reduce traffic at the polls.
At present, the plan is to have two virtual information sessions in June, followed by all-ballot voting that can be completed via absentee ballot or in-person at the Community Center in July, Deputy Town Administrator Nicole MacStay explained at the Select Board meeting last Tuesday. The change in format was prompted because voter check-in would be difficult to do under current guidelines, and the governor’s ban on gatherings of more than 10 people is likely to stay in place for the immediate future, MacStay said. “It’s an unusual way of doing things, I won’t argue that, and it kind of goes against the grain,” she said. “We’re really trying to do our best and get this town meeting done.”
The process would work as if a person immediately moved the question to a vote at Town Meeting, except for every question, all at the same time, MacStay said. Article A, the first question on the ballot following officer elections and a zoning petition, would ask “Are you willing to vote on the articles without debate?” If that passed, voting would proceed like in an amended SB2-style process. If Article A or the budget failed, the town would look into doing an open town meeting consistent with the charter and no votes on the warrants following the voting of officers and the zoning question would be counted, MacStay said. The administration is working with the Secretary of State and Attorney General’s office, as well as town counsel John Ratigan, to determine legally compliant procedures.
Articles will not be able to be amended prior to voting this year. “That can only be done in person at a deliberative session, an event which we simply could not figure out how we could hold safely while at the same time respecting all the laws governing voting,” MacStay said. Peterborough didn’t look into an open town hall meeting, like the one Jaffrey residents completed this weekend, because they’re trying to stay as true as possible to the town’s charter, she said.
A virtual information session is scheduled for June 16, streamed live via Channel 22, UStream, and Facebook. Town staff would explain the amended procedure for voting, and briefly explain the warrant. Questions and concerns will not be addressed live, any questions sent to the Administration Office over mail, email, or the phone would then be answered, to the extent possible, at a follow up session on June 30. The town’s annual report will come out no later than June 30, Town Administrator Rodney Bartlett said.
Voting is scheduled for July 14. In-person voting will occur at the Community Center, with limited numbers of voters in the building at a time and a new foot traffic layout insuring a one way flow of traffic through the building. People waiting to vote would stand in physically distanced lines outside. The date and location has stayed the same in order to avoid creating further confusion, MacStay said, despite suggestions for changes. Masks will be required to vote in person, and Fire Chief Ed Walker agreed to look into providing masks for residents who arrive without one. Typically, between 1,000 and 1,500 residents turn out for ballot voting, Town Clerk Linda Guyette said, and Town Meeting usually attracts less than a few hundred. Voting would not be canceled or postponed due to weather, MacStay said, and in that event voters could wait in their cars or carry umbrellas until they were allowed to enter.
Absentee ballots have already been provided to assisted living facilities in town, Guyette said. Residents can request absentee ballots from the Clerk’s office up to election day, she said, or print a request form on the town website and return it, with an original signature, by scanning, faxing, emailing, or using the physical dropbox. Absentee ballots are typically also available at the library, which is currently closed. The town will revisit absentee ballot distribution as state reopening guidelines change, Select Board member Karen Hatcher said. Absentee ballots must be returned to the Clerk’s office via hand delivery or mail by 5 p.m. election day, Guyette said.
Registering to vote can be done on election day at the Clerk’s office but it’s much better to do in advance, Guyette said, as it requires notarization. She’s been meeting people by appointment on the front steps of the town office.
This year’s warrant covers the election of 18 town officials. There is one petition zoning amendment, which seeks to repeal the Traditional Neighborhood Overlay Zone 1 in its entirety. The Planning Board does not support the amendment.
An Article A asks, “Shall this town meeting be conducted by ballot voting on the warrant articles, with no debate on the articles and no proposed amendment to any warrant article?”
Article 3 asks voters to spend $17,057,941 on general government, water, and wastewater expenses for the coming year, beginning July 1, 2020.
Article 4 asks voters to spend $73,100 on the following capital reserve and expendable trust funds: $5,000 to GIS, $18,100 to Police Department Fleet Management, $40,000 to Fire Department Apparatus and Equipment, and $10,000 to Winter Operations.
Article 5 asks voters to spend $194,256 on the Bridge Reconstruction capital reserve fund from the unassigned fund balance, with no amount to come from taxes.
Article 6 asks voters to transfer $3,000 raised from burial lot deed sales towards the Cemetery expendable trust fund.
Article 7 asks voters to establish a Public Gardens and Planters expendable trust fund, which will be used to maintain and enhance the town’s public gardens, and to authorize the Select Board to expend it. Funds will be provided in part by proceeds from the Fred and Betty Fry Garden Fund held by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.
Article 8 asks voters to establish a Library Renovation Project expendable trust fund to retain funds that were previously appropriated for the debt service of bonds not yet taken, and to designate Select Board members as agents to expend. It also asks voters to allocate $220,746 to the account from the unassigned fund balance.
Article 9 asks voters to establish a Transcript Dam Project expendable trust fund to retain funds that were previously appropriated for the debt service of bonds not yet taken, and to designate Select Board members as agents to expend. It also asks voters to allocate $73,976 to the account from the unassigned fund balance.
Article 10 asks voters to discontinue the following capital reserve and expendable trust funds and return the remaining funds within them to the general fund: Financial Software, Union Street Bridge Reconstruction, and GAR Hall. There is $202.25 in the Financial Software fund and $0 in the other two funds.
Article 11 asks voters to spend $270,000 to design, engineer and reconstruct the fly Pond Dam off Summer Street. The article also authorizes the Select Board to apply for and accept grants for the project, such as from FEMA, and to follow all laws applicable to the project.
Article 12 asks voters to spend $400,000 to put towards the Roadway System Upgrades capital reserve fund.
Article 13 asks voters to spend $200,000 to develop a conceptual design, cost estimate and construction drawings for a new fire station on town land off Elm Street.
The Select Board and Budget Committee recommend Articles 3 through 13.
Article 14 is a petition article that asks voters to spend up to $35,000 from the Greater Downtown TIF funds to install, operate, and maintain electric vehicle charging stations in the Riverwalk Parking lot. Implementation will not increase the tax rate. The GDTIF Advisory, and Economic Development authority support the article. The Select Board recommends the article, the Budget Committee does not.
Article 15 is a petition article that asks voters to support a statement calling on state and federal representatives to enact carbon pricing legislation to mitigate the effects of climate change. The results of the vote will be forwarded in writing to state and representatives via the Select Board.
Article 16 is a petition article that asks voters to adopt a resolution in support of Medicare For All, which, if supported, will result in the Select Boart notifying New Hampshire congressional delegates of the vote.
Article 17 is a petition article that asks voters to urge the new Hampshire General Court to redraw political districts in a way that ensures fair and effective representation of New Hampshire voters following the 2020 Census. Record of the vote will be transmitted to Peterborough’s state legislators and the governor.