The small group of residents who attended New Ipswich’s deliberative session Tuesday increased two capital reserve accounts in order to bolster funds for future purchases of police and highway vehicles.
With less than 25 residents in attendance, most of the articles were read and accepted without comment, in a meeting which took less than an hour. Multiple amendments were made and accepted, but most were housekeeping items, correcting mistakes in grammar or minor items, with only two having an impact on the proposed articles. In one of those amendments, residents agreed to increase the town’s contributions to the Highway Department Capital Reserve by $20,000 and the Police Department Capital Reserve by $10,000.
The town requests all of its additions to capital reserves and expendable trust funds in a single article, and sought a total of $258,500 for eight different capital reserves. While the article as recommended had the support of two Select Board members, Selectman Bert Hamill spoke for increasing the highway and police requests.
“The sums were a little on the low side,” Hamill said.
Hamill suggested increasing the Highway Depatment request from $75,000 to $95,000 and the Police Department from $40,000 to $50,000. He said the town has been having issues sourcing vehicles for both departments, and costs are coming in higher than anticipated. The Highway Department, in particular, has several vehicles the town is spending significant money repairing, he said.
“I would suggest they be modified upwards,” Hamill said, though he did not offer the amendment himself.
Resident Lou Alvarez made the motion, based on Hamill’s suggested figures, and the amendment was modified by a vote of 13-8.
The rest of the capital reserve requests, including $50,000 for the Fire Department, $6,000 for pool maintenance, $2,500 for parks and recreation, $30,000 for revaluation, $35,000 for building maintenance and $20,000 for fire protection equipment, remained at their original proposed amounts.
Hamill also raised an issue with an article for the management of cable franchise fees. The article asks to change the amount of money placed into the video revolving fund from $3,500 – as approved by voters in 2013 – to all of the fees collected from the cable franchise fees annually. Hamill said the amount should not be all the fees, and suggested up to 20 percent, but did not offer an amendment himself, and no one in the crowd moved to amend the article, leaving it to move to the warrant as originally proposed.
In the only other major change made by amendment, the warrant no longer requests to discontinue the town’s ministerial trust fund. Trustee of the Trust Funds Bentii Hoiska said the trustees have been attempting to clean up defunct funds. The ministerial fund is the oldest fund still held by the town, having been opened before the Revolutionary War, and was originally for paying the salary of the town minister – a position which hasn’t been filled since 1824.
The fund has $3,175 in it, and Hoiska said at least some of that was raised through taxation at Town Meeting. However, the original fund was also seeded with funds from the sale of lumber on a wooded lot, which was presented as a gift by royal decree. Hoiska explained that trust funds, if they contain only funds raised by taxation, can be discontinued by a vote of Town Meeting, but those that include gifts cannot, thus making the original warrant article illegal.
Hoiska proposed an amendment to the article to direct the Trustees of the Trust Funds and the Select Board to investigate the process for closing the account, and take action if possible, which passed.
The town is also asking to discontinue capital reserves connected to the town landfill, which has since been capped. The only costs associated with the former landfill are mowing and water testing, which have been incorporated into the town budget for years, leaving the capital reserves languishing. Together, the two accounts contain about $90,000, which would be added to the town’s general fund balance if voters agree to dissolve them.
Residents offered no feedback and asked no questions regarding the proposed budget, which is set at $2.88 million. The default budget is $2.71 million.
In three separate articles, the town is being asked to raise funds for the maintenance of the town roads. One article asks to raise, through taxation, $350,000, and a second seeks $250,000. Residents agreed to minor corrections to both articles, which allows the funds to be used through 2026, or five years, where the article as originally presented would have lapsed in 2025. In a third article, the town will vote whether to accept a state block grant for $147,250, also for road maintenance.
All articles, including election of town officials, are scheduled for the official ballot voting on March 8 at the Mascenic High School Gymnasium, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. A full copy of the warrant and budget is available on the town website. townofnewipswich.org.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.