Public hearing Wednesday on Gilford Town Meeting proposal

GILFORD — The Gilford Board of Selectmen will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 23, to hear from residents about a petitioned warrant article that would move the date of the Gilford Town Meeting to May.

Selectmen have voted to go on record as being opposed to the change.

Selectman Dale Channing Eddy explained, “We voted to not recommend the petition warrant article, as the change would require considerably more work than the petitioner realizes.

“Gilford’s fiscal year is based upon the calendar year, meaning it starts in January. We would need to change the town’s fiscal year to match the change in the town meeting date; otherwise, our fiscal year would be out of sync by a little over five months. Running the town for almost half a year with no approved budget is a nonstarter. Two months we can handle, but five months is pushing the limit.

“Changing the fiscal year requires a lot of preparation work,” he continued. “It isn’t something that can be handled on the fly.

“While we aren’t against discussing a change in the town meeting date, there are other discussions and preparations that would need to be made before we would consider such a change. So, until then, we do not recommend the change in town meeting dates.”

Norm Silber, who initiated the petition, said moving Town Meeting to May would allow more people to participate. Many people, particularly the elderly, do not want to risk injury by going to Town Meeting in March, when the weather is unpredictable, he said. The last two years, in particular, have brought foul weather that made it potentially dangerous to go out.

Silber said that moving the meeting to May also would allow participation by those who travel to warmer climes during the winter. While they are able to vote by absentee ballot, Silber said very few of them take advantage of that option. If the Town Meeting were moved to May, they would be back home in Gilford and would be able to participate in person.

A similar proposal went before the town in 2005, but it was amended to make it contingent upon the Gilford School District also changing its meeting date to May so the official-ballot voting could occur on the same day. Members of the Gilford School Board spoke against the article, saying that, if the school district were to move its meeting date, it would be forced to issue pink slips to teachers, putting them on notice that they might not be rehired, because the budget would not be settled in time to meet a legally required notification deadline.

Selectmen at that time also opposed the article on the same grounds cited by the current board.

The article ultimately failed in 2005.

The public hearing on Silber’s petition will take place at the selectmen’s regular meeting on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m.