Jonathan Pinette wins reelection to North Hampton Select Board: Town Meeting results
NORTH HAMPTON — Jonathan Pinette will keep his seat on the Select Board, defeating two other candidates at Tuesday’s election.
Pinette, 49, was the top vote-getter with 402 votes, followed by Henry Marsh with 346 and Brendan Fennell with 76 votes.
Pinette has served in several capacities in town government over the years, including on the Budget Committee, Zoning Board of Adjustment, Ethics Committee and Economic Development Committee. He ran for another term on the Select Board because he wanted to leverage his past town service experience to serve his neighbors in positive ways.
"The biggest challenge facing the town is balancing the various needs of our community with fiscal prudence," Pinette said. "Completing the safety complex project on time and on budget was vitally important for our residents. However, as everyone knows, inflation has been rising, resulting in incredible financial pressure on both municipalities and their residents."
On the town ballot, all the warrant articles gained approval.
Two union contracts for police, fire and DPW were approved overwhelmingly.
Select Board member James Sununu said both articles were in response to the difficulty in hiring and retaining qualified municipal employees in a competitive labor market.
Voters also agreed to adopt the North Hampton Community Choice Aggregation Plan to encourage a more competitive market for electricity and related services in town by a vote of 704 to 110.
Also winning big was modifying the elderly exemption from property taxes with a vote of 760 to 107. The approval will help those who qualify with rising property taxes as assessed values of real estate in town continue to rise.
Gagalis, Hass win seats on North Hampton School Board
Lisa Gagalis and Ashley Hass won seats on the North Hampton School Board in a five-way race for two seats.
Runners-up in order were Frank Ferraro, Noah Bourassa and Katherin Raucci.
Voters also approved the school district’s proposed operating budget of $10,125,584.
Hampton Falls bans vape shops in town
Hampton Falls voters approved all 27 warrant articles on the town ballot, with 17 offered by the Planning Board in attempts to shape the type and look of businesses in town.
Zoning articles approved include prohibiting the sale and display of fireworks, banning vaping shops, and regulating short-term residential rentals (less than 30 days), as well as the types of signage allowed in town.
The town's proposed operating town budget of $3.59 million, or about a 7.5% ($252,529) increase over the prior year’s budget, also received approval. The significant changes in the budget include an increase in the health insurance rates, IT support services, and the costs associated with three elections. Wages increased an average of 3%, and there is one employee that changed from part-time to full-time.
Voters also approved adopting the Hampton Falls Electric Aggregation Plan and changing the town's polling hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
There were no contested races on the ballot. Running unopposed were Ed Beattie for selectman, JP Pontbriand for moderator, Linda Coe for library trustee, Lyn Stan for supervisor of the checklist, Jonathan Bohm for cemetery trustee and David Mayes for Trustee of the Trust Funds. Eric Cimon and Abigail Tonry ran unopposed for two seats on the town's Planning Board.
Hampton Falls rejects school resource officer
Voters approved the school district's proposed $7.49 million budget, which is a 4.99% increase over the prior year's budget.
The article that did not gain voter approval was Article 3, which requested $50,000 to hire a school resource officer for Lincoln Akerman School. Although it was recommended by the School Board, it lost by a vote of 175 for and 201 against.
Anthony Lang and Gisela Manna, who ran unopposed, won seats on the School Board.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Jonathan Pinette wins reelection to North Hampton Select Board
