Jeanie Forrester: Prescott Park Playground installation starting in Meredith, along with community power

The March 30 Meredith Selectboard meeting agenda included board organizational activities, a workshop on prioritizing board-directed strategic goals, a follow-up discussion on 2026 petitioned warrant articles, and two items of interest from the town manager’s report.

The first meeting of the selectboard following Town Meeting always begins with election of officers and board assignments. Steve Aiken and Jim Gregoire were nominated and elected as chair and vice chair of the board, respectively. Board members were also chosen for various boards and committees, including capital improvements, energy, planning board, community plan implementation, Prescott Park improvement and the Waukewan Watershed Advisory Committee.

The selectboard reviewed infrastructure goals identified in the fall of 2025, while they and the management team worked with Primex, the town’s risk management provider. This work created vision and mission statements, strategic goals and strategic objectives for the next 18 months. The strategic goals were finalized in November, the board adopted the plan in January 2026, and the next step is to prioritize the strategic objectives. This work will take a longer-term look at larger projects with potentially significant financial impacts and coordinating financial planning to minimize the impact on taxpayers. The board will discuss priorities in more detail at the next meeting.

Three petitioned warrant articles considered at Town Meeting were discussed by the board. The first asked the New Hampshire Legislature to “protect local taxpayers by ensuring adequate state revenues for essential services, and by avoiding policies that shift costs onto local property taxpayers.” The second petitioned warrant article asked “Do we believe school budget decisions should remain with local voters rather than be restricted by a statewide, one-size-fits-all spending cap.” Both articles passed and the selectboard directed the town manager to send the results of the vote to the governor and members of the General Court representing Meredith.

The third petitioned warrant article related to asking residents to consider changing from a town manager form of government to a town administrator form of government that operates under the general administrative authority of the selectboard. The article passed and the town manager looked for direction from the board on how to move forward. Since this article was advisory only, the selectboard advised there should be public forums so residents could weigh in on the issue to discuss the pros and cons of this potential change. Should there be consensus on moving to a town administrator, there would be an article placed on the official ballot for next year’s Town Meeting.

During the town manager’s report, she advised that the Prescott Park Playground installation is moving forward, with expected site preparation beginning around March 30, and playground equipment and surface installation in May. Also noted was that Meredith is now officially “on deck” to participate in the launch of Meredith Community Power. The launch will only happen when rates offered by Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire are lower than that of NH Electric Cooperative.

The next meeting of the selectboard is Monday, April 13, and will be at the Meredith Public Library due to water damage repairs being completed at the Community Center.

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Jeanie Forrester serves on the Meredith Selectboard.