LEICESTER — At Monday evening’s town meeting, Leicester residents passed by voice the proposed municipal spending plan, but only after an amendment was made to remove a $625 appropriation that had been set aside for Maple Leaf Farm.
The final sum of $629,290.73 was passed by voice vote, divided into a general expense ($282,955.73) and highway budget ($346,335). The approved spending plan leaves a total of $470,641.50 to be raised by taxes. These figures represent decreases of less than $1,000 in taxes to pay for general expenses and around $7,000 in taxes to pay for highway expenses. Residents also approved an additional $20,000 for road paving.
By paper vote, 26 said “yes” and 5 said “no” to authorize the selectboard to appoint first and second constables. The constables will be prohibited from exercising law enforcement authority in the town, but will serve to assist the town health officer and serve as district court officer, among other duties.
The terms for three selectboard members expired after this year’s town meeting, and voters re-elected all three to new terms on the selectboard on Tuesday via Australian ballot: John Rouse for a three-year term, Tom Barker for a two-year term and Ron Fiske for the remaining year on a two-year term.
Residents chose candidates for town offices and weighed in on the Otter Valley Unified Union School District budget via Australian ballot on Tuesday. Voters approved a $19,772,608 budget for the OVUU School District, including the towns of Leicester, Brandon, Pittsford, Sudbury, Whiting and Goshen. The spending plan passed by a tally of 635-438 and represents $14,708 per equalized student, a 1.4 percent increase from the 2016 fiscal year.
Leicester voters also cast ballots for three at-large school board members. In the only contested race, Barbara Ebbing of Brandon won a seat over Eileen Guyette of Pittsford, 567-413. Ebbing will finish the remaining two years on a three-year seat; plus Emily Nelson and Matt Philo were elected to two three-year seats on the school board.