NEW HAVEN — New Haven’s 256th annual town meeting will take place Monday, March 5, at 6 p.m., at the New Haven Town Hall. Voting by Australian ballot on budgets and office holders will take place in the same location Tuesday, March 6, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voters are asked to approve Road Fund spending of $1,160,886 — $104,194 less than last year. The 8 percent decline reflects a shift in project focus, including a Plank Road project that has been put on hold, said selectboard Chair Kathy Barrett.
General Fund spending, if approved, would increase by about 1 percent to $729,174.
Two articles seek approval to spend up to $100,000 from the Reserve Facilities Fund on improvements to the Town Hall, half to replace the furnace and half to repair drainage.
Twenty-two additional articles address smaller appropriations.
Two selectboard members are running unopposed to keep their seats: Jim Walsh for a three-year term and John Roleau for a two-year term.
New Haven resident Sarah LaPerle is running unopposed to keep her seat for a three-year term on the Mount Abraham Unified School District (MAUSD) Board.
Town meeting agendas will no longer include budget discussions for individual schools. The new MAUSD Board scheduled its own annual meeting for this Feb. 27, as well as a public information hearing on the bond proposed for the renovation of Mount Abraham Union Middle/High School on Feb. 28. On Tuesday, when New Haven residents go to the polls to vote on budgets and elect town officials, they — like residents in the other four school district towns — will also be asked to adopt a $28,343,828 MAUSD budget, which represents a 1 percent spending increase per equalized pupil.
On Tuesday they will also vote on the $29.5 million bond for renovation of the 50-year-old Mount Abe building. Voters in the school district have rejected two similar bonds — both for more money — in the past three years.