Cyr Plantation residents approve 2005 budget

CYR PLANTATION – Eight municipal officers were elected and residents approved $85,443 in expenditures for 2005 at their annual town meeting Saturday morning.

James Bouchard was elected to a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen. Officers elected to one-year terms were Janet Lapierre, town clerk; Maxine Lajoie, treasurer; Herman Lajoie, tax collector; Phil Lajoie, road commissioner; Rodney Chabre, constable; Michael and Susan Lajoie, fire wardens; and Marilyn Lajoie, health officer.

Christine Chabre was moderator of the 21/2-hour session held at the town’s Governor Brann School, the plantation’s office. Twenty-five residents attended Saturday. The population of the St. John Valley community is listed at 117.

Residents agreed at the meeting to accept any past, present or future gifts for the maintenance and preservation of “The Historic Governor Brann School.”

The school, constructed in 1934 to educate the community’s children, is now the town office. It is located along Route 1.

They also voted to raise $1,000 for the complete restoration of Cyr Plantation’s vital statistics register. The first birth certificate registered in the community was in 1866.

The plantation’s largest expenditure is officers’ fees, which amount to $26,933 for 2005.

While residents discussed many of the articles in the annual town meeting warrant, they approved all items as proposed by the Board of Selectmen.

The town’s total expenditures do not include the town’s share of Aroostook County taxes, $9,824, and the town’s share of SAD 24 expenses. Education expenses in 2004 were $85,726.