Moultonborough community center turned down again

MOULTONBOROUGH — A record or near-record crowd turned out for Moultonborough’s Town Meeting on Saturday, and while a majority of the 621 people who cast ballots supported the $6.72 million warrant article for a new community center, it failed to get the two-third majority it needed to pass. Because the town would be borrowing most of the money for the project, the article required 414 yea votes; the final tally was 352-269.

Town Administrator Walter Johnson said Town Moderator Paul Punturieri did a good job managing discussion on the controversial issue, so voters were able to express different opinions and leave the meeting feeling good about it, even if they didn’t prevail on certain votes.

One proposed amendment, which would have reduced the amount to $2.1 million, failed, but a second amendment — to reduce the amount to be bonded by applying $1 million from the unassigned fund balance and $500,000 from the municipal building capital reserve fund — did pass.

As a result of the failure of the community center article to pass, voters passed over two articles that would have determined the location of the building.

A petitioned article that would have raised $1.5 million to renovate the former Lions Club building, generated “quite a bit of discussion,” according to Johnson, but it failed on a hand vote.

“I believe it was a record turnout,” Johnson said, “certainly one of the largest crowds people could recall. We were at capacity, and on the bond vote, where the polls were open for an hour, people could come in and then leave, if they had to. It was a very positive debate and discussion.”

Other articles

Article 19, allowing the town to sell a portion of the former Adele Taylor property to a couple intending to rehabilitate it for a retail business, passed overwhelmingly on a voice vote, and Johnson said there was little in the way of opposition to the decision.

An article to allow keno within town limits passed with no real debate, after failing last year. Johnson said the vote was heavily in favor of the game this year.

There was an effort to reduce the town’s contribution to a road improvement capital reserve fund, but that measure failed.