After a three-way write-in campaign, Jack Belletete was able to hold on to his seat on the Select Board, officially elected to the seat he had been appointed to fill out his predecessor’s term.
While Belletete is currently on the board, he did not officially file to fill the seat in January, but announced shortly afterward he would be running a write-in campaign. Two other residents, Gary Arceci and Aaron Abitz, also threw their hats into the ring upon seeing the empty seat.
Arceci, who has experience as treasurer of the Jaffrey-Rindge School District and the town budget committee, said he didn’t want to see the seat empty. Abitz was a latecomer to the race, and said he joined after reading about both Belletete and Arceci. He said he wanted to offer a fresh, young perspective.
Belletete however, was the ultimate winner of the write-in race, with a total of 152 votes.
“He’s lived in town his whole life, and he’s on top of all the issues,” said Belletete’s brother-in-law, Jim Banghart of Jaffrey, while campaigning for Belletete on Tuesday. “He knows the people and the establishment.”
Kevin Chamberlain, who is also a current sitting member of the Select Board, was also officially elected to fulfill the remaining one year in his term, which he was appointed to in May after the resignation of Selectwoman Bonnie Mitchell.
Jaffrey also passed all eight of its proposed zoning amendments.
Many of the proposed amendments were housekeeping items, but several will have an impact on how residents can use their property. Amendment 8, particularly, outlines new guidelines for how properties that straddle zoning districts should be handled.
Under the new rule approved by voters on Tuesday, if a parcel is in two separate districts, owners can use the zoning rules for each district only on the portion of the property that lies within that district. Under the old rules, whichever restrictions were more restrictive presided over the entire property, regardless of how much or how little was in that zone.
Voters also formally approved the process for appointing and seating alternates to the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The town has used alternates for many years on issues where an elected member of the board is not available or must recuse themselves, but in an apparent oversight, the town recently discovered it had never officially been given the authority to do so.
A similar article regarding the procedure for appointing and seating alternates is on the warrant for voting during Town Meeting.
The remaining warrant articles are scheduled to be addressed at Town Meeting on Saturday at 9 a.m. in the Conant High School Pratt Auditorium.