GOSHEN — After a 5:30 p.m. potluck at the town hall next Monday, March 4, Goshen residents will consider road and municipal spending for the coming year in their annual March town meeting beginning at 7 p.m.
The municipal spending proposal for 2019-2020 asks for $222,970, which is $19,783 (or 8.1 percent) less than the figure approved for the current year. But if residents think that means a big drop in spending then they need look no further than articles V and VI on the town meeting warning. No. 5 asks approval to spend $42,945 to cover the town’s share of paving Capen Hill Road. The selectboard has already allotted $30,000 from the Paving Fund and the state would pick up the rest of the estimated $222,500 cost of the project.
Article 6 asks residents to appropriate $32,000 for the town’s share of the $128,000 project to replace the Broken Wire Road Culvert on the Goshen Ripton Road.
Goshen residents will also vote on spending $212,700 through the highway budget, which represents a $5,000/2.5 percent increase from the figure approved last year.
Town Clerk Rosemary McKinnon said the town has had to pay more legal fees this year because of a suit against the Brandon Leicester Salisbury Goshen Insect Control District. But a town hall repair bond was paid off and zoning and constable costs were down, plus the town is applying for grants to reduce the cost of some of the road construction, she said.
The town clerk will be up for election when the town votes by Australian ballot on Tuesday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m., at the town hall.  Rosemary McKinnon said she was considering not running for re-election as town clerk, but said that with the help she gets in the office from Marci Hayes she decided to run again for the three-year term. Residents on Tuesday will also vote for a three-year selectman’s seat; incumbent David McKinnon is running.
Also on Tuesday, Goshen residents will vote on the Otter Valley Unified Union School District budget by Australian ballot. Voters will be asked to approve 2019-2020 OVUUSD spending of $19,935,847, which represents a 3.7 percent increase in total spending over last year. That is an increase of 2.08 percent per equalized pupil over the previous year.
Also on the school district ballot is a safety, security and operations improvement bond not to exceed $2,934,000. The bond is for improvements at Lothrop Elementary, Neshobe Elementary and Otter Valley Union High School.
Residents in the six Otter Valley towns will vote on all eight school director positions regardless of which town they live in. There will be one contested school board election: Derek Larsen and Mike Lufkin are both running a three-year seat representing Brandon. Other school directors up for election will be Jon Rasmussen for a one-year seat in Brandon, Laurie Bertrand for a three-year seat in Sudbury, Bonnie M. Chmielewski for a three-year seat in Pittsford, Barbara Ebling for a three-year at-large seat, and two seats in Goshen are open but don’t have anyone on the ballot.