Hartland

HARTLAND – Hartland voters will hold their annual town meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 5, at the town office in the former Hartland Academy building.

The annual election will run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. today and features four uncontested races.

The proposed budget of $600,618 is only $16,000 higher than last year’s, according to officials, and the current tax rate of $18.75 per $1,000 of property valuation will not be affected if all 38 proposed articles are passed.

Key spending decisions will include a plan to place $6,000 in reserve for a future swimming pool, and a new roof over the town office, which has been estimated at $40,000. A total of $28,000 already has been saved and set aside for the roof project. No raises for any town employees, even cost of living raises, have been proposed.

St. Albans

ST. ALBANS – Voters will cast ballots today for town candidates and gather at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 5, at the town hall to debate a proposed 2005 budget that increases spending by 10 percent and considers changing the town’s form of government, according to officials.

Voters will be asked whether they want to keep the town manager format or switch to an administrative assistant who would work with the Board of Selectmen. If voters favor switching to an administrative assistant, selectmen would draft a formal proposal for consideration next year. Officials say the article was included to get a sense of what townspeople want to pay for.

Most of the proposed budget increase will target road repairs. The increase would bump the mill rate up by about 63 cents per $1,000 valuation. Selectmen have proposed raising $50,000 and borrowing $400,000 to repave six major town roads. They have said that by doing all the roads at once, they could save in paving costs because interest rates are low.

Voters also will be asked to allow the town to be released from a 20-year contract with FirstPark in Oakland, a speculative development park, which is not paying dividends as fast as officials would like. St. Albans is one of 24 communities that belong to the FirstPark coalition, which provides annual funding from the communities in return for future paybacks.

When the authority was established in 1999, participating towns were told they would begin receiving paybacks in 10 years. Payments have begun already, however, with St. Albans receiving $380 last year on their original investment of $47,000.

The budget proposal includes 3 percent raises for town employees and, for the first time in the town’s history, payment to volunteer firefighters for training and fighting fires.

Elections will be held from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. today. All three selectmen are seeking re-election and there are reportedly several write-in campaigns. There is also an article on the meeting warrant that would stagger selectmen’s terms.

North Anson

NORTH ANSON – Local voters will debate a $1.3 million budget, which represents a 3 percent increase over last year, at their annual town meeting at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, March 5.

Voting will be held earlier in the day, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the new Carrabec Community School.

A proposal suggests taking $50,000 in surplus funds to help reinstall railroad crossings that were removed years ago when service to the town was abandoned. Madison Paper Industries is now the last stop on the Guilford Rail Systems line, and the project would help create a railroad link to Cousineau Wood Products. The 4-mile extension would bolster an expansion at the company and is expected to create new jobs, according to Robert Worthley, the town’s administrative assistant.

To solve an access problem the town has with its sand pit, voters will be asked to purchase 2 acres on Spear Hill Road at a cost of $14,000.

Ripley

RIPLEY – For the second year in a row, an increase in revenues and belt-tightening by selectmen resulted in a decrease in the town’s annual spending.

If all expenditures are approved, the mill rate could drop by 40 cents per $1,000 of property valuation, even though the budget is just over $20,000 higher than last year.

Ripley voters will hold their annual town meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 5, at the Ripley Grange Hall.

Because of frugal oversight by selectmen last year, many individual accounts have large balances, which will be applied to this year’s appropriations. The town has more than $300,000 in surplus funds, according to officials, and is in strong financial shape.

Selectmen’s nominations will be taken from the floor during the town meeting for a three-year term, a two-year term and a single year.

An unusual article proposes to limit access to a discontinued portion of the town-owned Laughton Road. The road is a dead-end, dirt road, and a resident has complained to town officials about all-terrain vehicle use.

Newport

NEWPORT – Voters at Saturday’s town meeting will begin the search for a new police chief to fill the position held by James Ricker for the past 23 years.

Ricker, who fills both positions of chief and town manager, said recently that the municipal side of the job is taking more and more time and it is the area where he feels he can make the most difference.

The town meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 5, at the Sebasticook Valley Community Center.

Elections will be held from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. today at SVCC. The only contested selectman’s race pits incumbent James Brann, a nine-year board veteran, against Thomas Stone, who recently served his first year on the town’s budget committee.

Ricker said he would hire an assistant chief by June, who would be promoted to chief after a six-month probationary period. This move, Ricker said, would allow him to focus on projects near to his heart, such as a downtown cultural center and the Sebasticook Riverwalk project.

Newport’s budget is 2.4 percent higher than last year’s, an increase that will not affect the mill rate of $19.20 per $1,000 of property valuation.

Voters also will decide on $55,000 for a new extrication device for the Fire Department, $15,000 to cover cost overruns at the new recycling building and funds for a new public works truck and doors for the town garage.

Embden

EMBDEN – Embden voters are looking at possibly restructuring town government at their annual town meeting on Saturday. Municipal elections at Embden Elementary School are from 8 a.m. to noon, and the town meeting begins at 1 p.m.

A proposal asks voters whether a committee should conduct a study on the feasibility of bringing in a town manager or an administrative assistant. This change was recommended in the Embden Comprehensive Plan years ago but was never enacted. Gloria Young has operated as town clerk and treasurer from her home for the past 26 years. Both Young and her husband, Raymond Young, who has been a selectman since 1968, are stepping down from town government.

Officials think that a part-time assistant can be shared with a neighboring community.

Other articles will ask voters to approve $25,000 for a new town office building, to be added to the $100,000 already saved and for increases in permit fees.

Three candidates are vying to replace Gloria Young; they are Tracy Lesperance, who has served with Young as a registrar, Elaine W. Jillson and Tanya Carey.

Wendell Routon is running unopposed for Raymond Young’s selectman’s seat.