Jay voters elect Bryan Riley, Dawn Strout to RSU 73 board
Apr. 23—JAY — Residents reelected two selectpersons, and elected two new Regional School Unit 73 directors on Tuesday during the annual town meeting referendum at the Community Building.
The selectperson positions were unchallenged. Selectperson Terry Bergeron received 292 votes and Thomas "Tom" Goding received 278 votes. Both are three-year terms.
Voters also elected Bryan Riley with 232 votes and Dawn Strout with 130 votes to take three-year terms on the school board. The seats were held by Chantelle Woodcock and Joel Pike who did not seek reelection. Write-in candidates Shari Ouellette received 63 votes and Danielle Brotherton received 125 votes.
Joseph Holley was elected as a trustee to the Jay Village Water District. Several people received write-in votes to serve as a trustee on the North Jay Village.
Town Clerk Ronda Palmer said she will call the residents to see who wants to serve.
All articles on the ballot were approved, she said.
Voters approved amendments to the Jay Environmental Control and Improvement Ordinance and the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance to comply with a new state law addressing to address affordable housing.
Residents also approved authorizing the Select Board to negotiate a road agreement in the best interest of the town, not to exceed seven years, with Polycor New England, a granite company in Jay.
The proposed municipal spending plan is about $282,800 more than the current budget, which will expire June 30.
The majority of the increase is coming from wages and benefits to keep up in a competitive job market, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere previously said.
After estimated revenues are factored in, taxpayers will be responsible for about $3.3 million, or $149,300 more than the current budget.
LaFreniere said in January that she was very conservative in estimating revenues and kept the number the same as last year. She expects the state revenue-sharing to increase because of the anticipated lower valuation of the town.
The municipal budget does not include the town's share of Regional School Unit 73 and Franklin County budgets, which are not finalized.
Selectpersons and the Budget Committee earlier this year approved taking $39,330 from the tower/recreation reserve account, instead of raising it through taxation for several recreation-related proposals.
The recreation-related items include $19,220 for the Summer Recreation Program and $13,560 for insurance for the Spruce Mountain Ski Slope. The $675 requested by the North Jay Grange will come from the regular budget because it is not recreation related.
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