Residents voted 37-28 in favor of allowing selectmen to appoint a road commissioner.

This change in method will commence at the 2010 annual town meeting.

No one was nominated for the position, and Bruce Crockett, the current road commissioner, opted not to seek re-election.

Residents only had two write-in candidates to chose from. At elections Friday, they chose Roger Mallar to fill the position. They also voted for David Sirois to fill a slot on the Board of Selectmen and Linda Leet for the School Administrative District 16 board of directors.

At Saturday's meeting, Select Board Chairman Rickey McKenna said that it wasn't that selectmen wanted to take the right to elect a road commissioner from townspeople.

"We just felt it's hard for the town to plan, not knowing who's going to be the road commissioner," he said.

Some residents had wanted to keep electing the road commissioner and change the term from one to three years.

Town meeting moderator Clifford Goodall had intended to allow the article to be amended, but a motion was made, seconded and passed to override the moderator. Residents then voted on the article as written.

"It makes no difference how the road commissioner gets that position, whether elected or appointed," Selectman Gene Moreau said. "Any decision made by the majority of selectmen will be final."

Residents at the meeting also authorized selectmen to sell the Sheldon Street School property.

The Capital Needs Committee received a request for proposal from David Kingsley who wants to build an assisted-living facility for the elderly at the vacant school site.

David Cyr, a member of the Capital Needs Committee, urged residents to authorize selectmen to sell the old school. He said the current offer by Kingsley is $170,000.

"It has green space, tax revenue and positive economic development, and nowadays any kind of development is good news," Cyr said.

Voters gave selectmen permission to borrow funds for the purpose of acquiring property on Maine Avenue for a facility that would house a fire station and possibly a town office.

They also voted to reduce the amount of money the town pays for library service.

In years past, McKenna said, the Gardiner Public Library charged the town on a per capita basis, and Hallowell's Hubbard Library charged a flat fee, which combined has totaled as high as $24,000 per year for library services.