Moultonborough moderator: This time, they'll be ready for triple the attendance at Town Meeting

MOULTONBOROUGH — The crowd at the originally scheduled Town Meeting on May 11 smashed records by several hundred — or it would have, had it been able to continue. However, the surge of voters was so great that there was no way to accommodate all of them in the Moultonborough Academy auditorium. The meeting was postponed and rescheduled to Thursday, June 1.

This time, every possible measure is being taken to be able to handle what could be the largest turnout in town history.

“We couldn’t have anticipated that we were going to get more than 1,000 people,” said Paul Punturieri, town moderator. It’s impossible to say exactly how many showed up to the originally scheduled meeting last week, as people were still lined up in a queue that wrapped around the auditorium, through the school’s main entrance and into the parking lot, when the decision was made to cancel the meeting. But, Punturieri said, at the time the postponement was announced, 567 people had already checked in. With the many, many more who hadn’t yet checked in, it was all but certain that the total would have eclipsed the modern record of 666 voters, set in 2019.

What inspired such a crowd?

“I think The HUB, for sure,” Punturieri said, referring to a seemingly perennial proposal for the town to construct a 36,472-square-foot community center unlike any other in the region. Specifications call for, among other things, a commercial kitchen, function hall, multipurpose room, a swimming pool and a warm-water therapy pool, and the cost would be $15.9 million, more than the town has spent on any other single project, Punturieri noted.

Another question on the ballot asks voters if they would like to switch to the so-called SB 2 form of town government. However, Punturieri said it’s clearly The HUB that’s the main event.

Does such a large turnout bode well for the community center, something that has come before the town three times prior?

“I honestly don’t know,” said Punturieri, who said he had no way of knowing how the people in the crowd intended to vote on the matter. “There were so many people, and so many people I’ve never seen before. It’s been dividing this community since 2007. ... It’s going to be an interesting conversation, I’ll tell you that.”

The HUB has proven popular, gaining more than 50% of votes the last two times it came up at Town Meeting. But, because the warrant article includes a bond issuance, a simple majority won’t be enough — the threshold for passage is 60%.

Making room

If the same-size crowd shows up again, Punturieri said the town will be ready. In addition to the school’s auditorium, overflow space will be readied in the gymnasium and cafeteria. Those rooms will be outfitted with assistant moderators, screens, audio speakers and microphones, so voters will be able to participate fully no matter where in the building they’re seated. Punturieri said they will have space for around 1,700 voters, or nearly triple the attendance record.

In a stroke of fortune, Punturieri is practiced in moderating such a disparate meeting. In 2020, the Town Meeting was held in a similar fashion in order to provide social distancing for all in attendance.

“It was a challenge, for sure, but we had some good people moderating in each of those locations, and as long as people are patient, it will go fine,” Punturieri said.

Child care will be provided in Moultonborough Central School by the National Honor Society.

Parking is another major consideration, as the school’s lots were overflowing onto the highway on the evening of May 11. Organizers are asking that the parking area directly in front of Moultonborough Academy’s main entrance be reserved for people with mobility challenges. Other parking areas are being arranged at the former Lions Club property, at local businesses and other schools, with shuttles running voters to the Academy. Alternatively, Punturieri said, voters could park in lots on Main Street and walk to the Academy via the access road that runs next to the Bank of New Hampshire building.

He said that the supervisors of the checklist will be set up as soon as possible, perhaps as early as three hours prior to the 6 p.m. start of the meeting. He said that eight check-in stations will be staffed, in order to process arriving voters quickly.