Voters at Barnstead Town Meeting will take up vehicle purchases

BARNSTEAD — There are 27 warrant articles up for vote at the Barnstead Town Meeting Saturday, mostly focusing on vehicular purchases. Voters will meet at 9 a.m. at the elementary school.

The people of Barnstead met March 11, to complete this year’s town elections. Richard Therrien and Andrew Sylvester were elected to the selectboard, beating Doreen Wittenberg, Nancy Hart and Paula Penney. David Kerr and Anthony Palmieri were elected to the town’s Planning Board over Edward Tasker. Linda Bramante and Michelle Rosado were elected to the budget committee, and Denise Adjutant as trustee of the trust funds. Jessie Fifield was elected town clerk and tax collector, Linda Nelson as library trustee, Hilary Henry as town treasurer, and Elaine Swinford as overseer of public welfare. 

To the school board, Barnstead voters elected Jason Henry and Eunice Landry over Anne Watson, and Doreen Wittenberg over Diane Beijer. John Savage was elected school district moderator, Timothy Eade was elected district clerk, and Hilary Henry as district treasurer. 

Barnstead residents also voted on a handful of zoning questions on Tuesday. 

Question 2 added definitions to the zoning ordinance for “solar energy system”, both generally and also relative to roof- and ground-mounted versions and commercial use. Voters approved that question 307 to 158. 

Voters also approved question 3, 321-140, to define unnamed aerial vehicles. UAVs are now defined as “a device, object or contrivance which can be flown without a pilot or operator in physical contact with any part of the device, object or contrivance.” For the purposes of the definition, “UAV” and “drone” mean the same thing.

And question four, approved by voters 269-174, added permitted uses by district or zone for solar energy. Now, room-mounted solar systems are permitted in the village, residential and agricultural, industrial commercial and suburban districts. 

Ground-mounted solar systems are also permitted in all four zones and districts, and commercial solar systems are as well, except for in the village and suburban districts.

The 27 warrant articles up for vote include several regarding acquisition of new municipal vehicles.

Article 5 asks voters to appropriate $77,000 for the town to purchase a new cruiser for the police department, a replacement vehicle. The notion is supported unanimously by the selectboard and budget committee, and the anticipated tax rate impact is $0.70 on $1,000 of assessed valuation. 

Townspeople will also decide if they’ll approve a five-year lease or purchase agreement to acquire a new excavator for the highway department on article 6. They’d have to raise and appropriate $59,401 for the first payment to come from the highway department’s Heavy Equipment Capital Reserve. The total cost is $297,005, and the current balance of the capital reserve fund is $143,805. It’s recommended unanimously by the selectboard, but 5-2 by the town’s Budget Committee — there’s no anticipated impact to the tax rate. 

And article 7 asks voters to raise and appropriate $70,617 to purchase a new fire rescue utility vehicle, another replacement vehicle, and to authorize the withdrawal of that amount from the Fire Rescue Special Revenue Fund. The selectboard recommended the approval 4-1, and the town’s Budget Committee recommended it unanimously. It’s got no associated impact to the tax rate. 

Board Chair Diane Beijer and Town Administrator Karen Montgomery did not return requests for comment.

The full text of the town warrant is available at barnstead.org.