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Staff report Sunday, March 4, 2007

Despite opposition, voters approved building a $95,000 salt-and-sand shed Saturday afternoon as part of a $300,000 municipal spending plan at the annual town meeting.

They did not, however, go along with the selectmen's recommendation to raise $25,000 and borrow the balance for an excavator for the Highway Department. They indicated they would rather continue to rent one each year.

Many voters said the shed would be a waste of money, that state environmental regulators had eased up on the requirement and that it was too expensive anyway. One voter, however, noted that the price of the shed will just keep increasing each year. Ultimately, he said, the town is going to have to pay $120,000 for a salt-and-sand shed by the time the Department of Environmental Protection decides to require that it be built.

Elaine Aloes, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said the town would save $2,500 a year by having the salt-and-sand on a cement pad and under a roof.

Voters argued against a proposal to change the posts of town clerk, tax collector, treasurer and road commissioner from elective to appointive offices. The proposal failed.

Voters approved paving the 14-year-old Town Office and fire station parking lot and came up with $5,000 to help fund attaching a dental clinic to the Bingham Area Health Center.