[0:04] Hello and good evening everybody. How we
doing tonight? Good. Can you hear me?
[0:08] Okay.
[0:12] » How's it?
>> Sounds better to my ears, too.
[0:17] » All right. Hello and welcome to
Canterbury Town Meeting on this awesome
[0:20] Friday the 13th. How's everybody? Good.
Everybody have a good week?
[0:26] » Awesome. All right. So,
I am Jessica Trenway, your new town
[0:32] moderator, stepping into the everlar
shoes of Jim Miller. So,
[0:45] and I I am a pharmacist by profession
and I read a joke this morning that I
[0:50] decided that I had to share since I read
at the day of town meeting and I felt
[0:53] that I should share with everybody. So,
what kind of medical condition causes
[0:58] wrinkled clothing?
>> What kind of medical condition causes
[1:03] wrinkled clothing
[1:07] » and iron deficiency?
[1:14] » So, there's my there's my one loud dad
joke for the meeting and now we can get
[1:17] down to the six.
[1:21] » Okay. So, I would like to ask any
veterans, armed forces, or anybody
[1:28] active in the military or national guard
to please stand if you can at this time.
[1:42] And
then I'm sorry if you could remain
[1:45] standing and I'll have everybody join
them and then I'm going to have the
[1:49] archer children representing the scouts
organization to come up and lead us in
[1:52] the pledge of allegiance.
[2:04] pledge
[2:15] to stand als
[2:28] God indivisible with liberty and justice
for
[2:36] Thank you. Failen Charlotte and Wade
Archer.
[2:51] Okay. And now I would like to call
everybody's attention to the recent
[2:56] passing of a previous town moderator,
Tedlair. Ted served many roles within
[3:01] our community. Several of you may
remember him as the former town
[3:06] postmaster general. He was also a
constant presence within and strong
[3:12] supporter of the Elvin's Public Library.
So I just wanted to take a moment to
[3:16] recognize him. And now, if I could just
ask everybody for a moment of silence
[3:20] for all of those that we've lost over
the last year, please.
[3:33] » Okay, great. Thank you.
And as we move into the business portion
[3:38] of the meeting, some housekeeping to go
over. Most of you, I saw go through the
[3:43] table. Just want to make sure everybody
has their red and green cards and you've
[3:46] checked in to get those for when it's
time to vote.
[3:49] Um, town reports, there are extra copies
at the back table if you need those to
[3:53] follow along as we read through award
articles. This year's town report is
[3:57] dedicated to Ken and Eileene Stern for
their conservation efforts. Ken is also
[4:02] recognized for many years of public
service as a planning board and
[4:06] consecutive con conservative committee
member including eight years as chair
[4:11] and co-chair of the conservation
committee. So thank you Ken and Eileen
[4:15] for your vision, generosity and service
[4:26] and then the basic fire exits. make sure
everybody knows where they are and feel
[4:31] free to use them should the need arise.
And in the back would like to introduce
[4:37] theformational displays we have. We have
the window dressers, the Canterbury
[4:41] Farmers Market, Friends of Elkins Public
Library, and then some Girl Scout
[4:46] cookies for sale if you choose to
partake.
[4:49] And then I
will move into recognizing and thanking
[4:55] Tuesday's election team. was my first
election as town moderator. I felt that
[5:00] it went pretty smoothly and I was very
grateful for everybody there to help and
[5:04] support me survive my first one. Um so
assistant town moderator Katie Archer,
[5:10] if everybody could clap for her, please.
[5:18] And then Sam Paps, our town clerk, he
was instrumental with his wealth of
[5:22] knowledge to help me through what I
didn't know. our select board and town
[5:26] police officers, the highway and
department crew for setting up Tuesday
[5:30] night and tonight, ballot clerks and
counters. Thank you, thank you, thank
[5:34] you for all of your hard work. And then
the supervisors of the checklist, Brenda
[5:39] Murray, Denise Soya, and Pam Smarling.
And I specifically want to recognize and
[5:44] thank Brenda Murray for serving as a
supervisor of the checklist for 36
[5:48] years. She chose not to run again this
year. So, thank you
[5:59] And then also thanks to Jim Miller for
his knowledge and support helping me
[6:03] through learning what I needed to know.
[6:09] And last but not least, thanks to
everybody that came out to stay.
[6:13] And then tonight's platform, I will
introduce the folks to my left. We have
[6:18] Ken Fold.
[6:24] I know. I know. Well, there's my one. I
needed to get it out of the way early.
[6:28] So, there's my one. Beth, Blair, Calvin,
Todd, and Scott Dhy on our
[6:36] to my right, we have Sam Paps.
[6:45] And then without objection, I would like
to grant the right of voice without vote
[6:51] for our non-residents, Ken Fulsome,
Justin Crowy, John O' Conor, and Michael
[6:57] Gamash in the event they need to answer
any questions related to any warrant
[7:00] articles. Are there any objections?
All right, seeing none, I will grant
[7:05] that. Thank you. And then final
recognition for the evening, Edgar
[7:10] Rivera for recording our meeting for us
so we have it as reference.
[7:20] All right. And then rules for speaking.
I ask that everybody be respectful and
[7:25] civil at all times during this meeting.
It's important to understand that while
[7:29] we are allowed to disagree, we are not
allowed to be disrespectful or
[7:33] disagreeable. So, please remember that
if you do come up to speak in regards to
[7:38] any of the warrant articles, please
address all comments to me as the
[7:41] moderator.
Before speaking, raise your hand and be
[7:46] called on by me before you start to
speak, please. You will come to the mic
[7:50] in the center of the room. You may form
a line if somebody is already speaking
[7:54] and politely waiting your turn, please.
If you are not able to stand and come to
[8:00] the mic, if you raise your hand, I will
recognize you and we'll get the
[8:02] microphone brought to you.
And I as moderator will recognize those
[8:07] who have not yet spoken on an issue
before anyone who has previously spoken.
[8:13] Cant residents only may speak unless
granted a separate voice without vote by
[8:19] the voting public.
[8:22] And please, last thing, if you do come
up to leave a comment, make sure you are
[8:27] making your own comment and not just
repeating anything that has been said
[8:30] before.
If you wish to call the question for the
[8:35] warrant articles, you must raise your
hand and be called upon. Calling the
[8:39] question before people have had an
opportunity to present the essentials of
[8:43] the warrant article or before people
have had at least some opportunity to
[8:46] ask questions or speak to the issue is
in direct opposition of the entire
[8:50] purpose of having our town meeting which
is for the town's people to make
[8:54] informed decisions on behalf of the
entire community. Calling the question
[8:59] motions must be seconded and passed by a
twothirds vote.
[9:04] Rules for motions going to follow a
simplified rule of order. Motions must
[9:08] be moved and seconded. Please, for all
comments and all motions, state your
[9:14] name and where you live clearly so that
Sam can document it for the minutes. And
[9:19] the mover will have the first right to
speak after the presenter of each
[9:22] warrant article has introduced it.
Any and all amendments made must be
[9:29] given in writing to the town clerk and
must be legible, please, before we vote
[9:33] on them. There will be one motion and
amendment recognized at a time. Any
[9:38] amendments involving money must include
the dollar amount, please. And please be
[9:44] aware that we are bound by certain
restrictions from state laws and
[9:47] department of revenue administration
when it comes to altering expenditure
[9:51] amounts or purposes of the warrant
articles.
[9:57] All right, I believe that's all I have.
And oh, one more thing. If you believe
[10:03] that I, as moderator, have aired on the
terms of procedure, you may request a
[10:08] point of order and then call it at to a
vote. A majority vote is required to
[10:12] override the moderator.
Any questions or concerns up to this
[10:16] point?
[10:20] Seeing none, then I would like to
quickly share the results from Tuesday's
[10:26] voting before we move into tonight's
warrant article. So for
[10:33] for the articles on the ballot from
Tuesday, I'm not going to read through
[10:37] the full article. I'll just read the
article and the number. It is in your
[10:40] booklet if you choose to look it up and
read it. So for cemetery trustee John
[10:46] Gole received 291 votes. John Werski 56.
For the planning board, Logan Snyder
[10:52] 331.
Janice Delro
[10:58] Delro got 20 votes. Supervisor of the
checklist Suzanne Williams winning at
[11:04] 346.
Library trustee Debbie Snow 264.
[11:09] Jennifer Werski 128. Florence Woods 199.
For selectments, Scott Dhy 343.
[11:17] Trustee of the trust funds Gregory Heath
339.
[11:22] Article two passed by a vote of 339 to
41.
[11:27] Article three passed with a vote of 333
to 45.
[11:33] Article 4 passed with a vote of 322-63.
[11:38] Article 5 passed with a vote of 335 to
49
[11:43] and article 6 passed with a vote of
314-61.
[11:49] And then school board election or the
school ballot, sorry, Shaker Regional
[11:54] School District ballot, school board
Belmont representatives are Mark Edber
[11:59] receiving 827 votes and Michael
Scoffield receiving 264 votes.
[12:05] Canterbury resident for the school
board, Alice Todd, receiving 966 votes.
[12:10] Articles. Article two,
yes votes 939, no votes 410. Article
[12:18] three passed. Yes. 917. No. 426.
Article 4. Yes. 971. No. 374.
[12:29] Article 5 passed 948 to 395.
And article 6 passed 995 to 348.
[12:40] And one last thank you to everybody that
ran for office both in town and the
[12:44] school district.
All right. So, now we're ready to move
[12:49] on to the warrant articles. So, I'll
start in your booklets on page 11,
[12:55] article 7,
[13:02] is to see if the town will vote to
establish a police public safety details
[13:08] revolving fund pursuant to RSA 3195-H
[13:15] for the purpose of providing public
safety services by police department
[13:19] employees outside of the ordinary
detail. of such persons. All revenues
[13:24] received for police public safety
details will be deposited into the fund
[13:28] and the money in the fund shall be
allowed to accumulate from year to year
[13:32] and shall not be considered part of the
town's general fund balance. And further
[13:36] to raise and appropriate the sum of
$5,000 to be added to the police public
[13:41] safety details revolving fund to come
from the unassigned fund balance and not
[13:46] from taxation. The town treasurer shall
have custody of all monies in the fund
[13:51] and shall pay out the same only upon
order of the governing body and no
[13:56] further approval is required by the
legislative body to expend. Such funds
[14:00] may be expended only for the purpose for
which the fund was created. Majority
[14:05] vote is required recommended by the
selectman. No tax impact. And Scott will
[14:10] be speaking to this article for us.
>> I'm sorry. Oops.
[14:15] » I need a motion. Move acceptance. Move
>> and a second.
[14:30] » Hello.
>> Yeah.
[14:32] » All right. All right. So, um this is a
revolving fund for the police
[14:38] department. It's it's not a new way to
account for money. Um several towns in
[14:42] our area have been doing this for many
years including Bosquil
[14:47] Northfield and EPS just to name a few.
The funds you'll see um the next war
[14:53] article will be required to the funds
were both set up uh by our town
[14:58] auditors. The war articles were reviewed
by the town attorney and the New
[15:03] Hampshire Department of Revenue
Administration or DRA. Um the money
[15:08] received from offduty details will be
placed in a separate account from our
[15:12] general fund and we'll use this money to
pay the officer's wages for the detail
[15:18] and then as uh we're paid the money will
go into that separate account. Any
[15:23] leftover funds will be used for
equipment having to do with details such
[15:28] as reflective vests equipment for the
cruisers that it can't be used to help
[15:32] pay for the cruiser. Um
there are several layers of
[15:38] authorization to expend funds including
the department head, the town
[15:43] administrator, the accounting clerk and
the board of selected finance. So we
[15:47] will account for these funds and
expenditures of the town report annually
[15:51] so everyone can see where the money is
spent.
[16:01] » All right. And at this time, anybody
that has any questions or comments may
[16:04] come up to the mic again. Please state
your name and where you live and then
[16:08] proceed with your questions.
[16:14] » I think you have to turn it on.
>> The switch the switch is on the top
[16:17] there.
[16:22] » Thank you. S Russell Ultton wrote, I
just want to know I'm kind of ignorant
[16:27] on this one. The next one, can you just
give an example of what it means?
[16:35] » If I understand your word, I mean
examples of offduty detail. So,
[16:40] » no. Yeah. Um, so commonly, um, actually,
I think everybody was aware when Comcast
[16:47] ran the fiber optic up 132. There was
always a police car there. So, those
[16:54] police cars are not paid for by
Canterbury. They're paid for by contract
[16:59] or by the company that's doing the
construction. So, we charge them the
[17:05] officer's uh salary at $65 an hour.
Another charge for a cruiser and an
[17:11] administrative overhead fee as well. So,
um as that money comes in, obviously the
[17:17] officer is going to be paid out of that
fund and what's left over will
[17:21] accumulate in the fund and then be used
to fund equipment purchases.
[17:25] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[17:34] Any further questions or comments?
[17:43] » Teresa Rasha, Center Road.
Um
[17:47] this is from private entities that
require our services um our police
[17:53] services
>> I think can correct me if I'm wrong yes
[17:58] I think would be would be the answer
right construction felonies things like
[18:01] that
>> okay not not not like uh IS border
[18:05] patrol or anybody like that is there any
money in our budget for that
[18:10] » that's kind of putting the cart before
the horse we haven't got to the budget
[18:13] yet
>> okay well that's I'll ask
[18:15] I'm I'm just concerned that
this money might be used for stuff like
[18:20] that. Although Okay, perfect. Thank you.
[18:30] » Anything further?
Seeing nothing further, I'll call the
[18:35] question. All those in favor, raise your
green cards, please.
[18:39] » Thank you. All opposed, raise your red
cards.
[18:43] » Okay.
Yes. Has it? Motion pass. Article
[18:47] passes. On to article 8 to see if the
town will vote to establish a fire and
[18:54] rescue public safety details revolving
fund pursuant to RSA 3195H
[19:01] for the purpose of providing public
safety services by fire and rescue
[19:05] department employees outside of the
ordinary detail of such persons. All
[19:10] revenues received for fire and rescue
public safety details will be deposited
[19:14] into the fund and the money in the fund
shall be allowed to accumulate from year
[19:18] to year and shall not be considered part
of the town's general fund balance and
[19:23] further to raise and appropriate the sum
of
[19:27] $2,000 to be added to the fire and
rescue public safety details revolving
[19:31] fund to come from the unassigned fund
balance and not from taxation. The town
[19:36] treasurer shall have custody of all
monies in the fund and shall pay out the
[19:40] same only upon order of the governing
body and no further approval is required
[19:44] by the legislative body to expend. Such
funds may be expended only for the
[19:48] purposes for which the fund was created.
Majority vote required recommended by
[19:53] the selemen. No tax impact. Scott,
you've got this one.
[19:56] » Yep.
>> So everything I just said um did it
[20:01] again. Need a motion from the floor.
[20:08] and a second.
[20:12] » Okay.
>> All right. So, everything that I just
[20:14] said about the police just fill in the
fire department. Um, it is obviously
[20:18] going to be a smaller amount of money.
For the most part, the fire department
[20:22] details consist of the track coverage uh
when they have the big races. So, a
[20:27] couple times a year. So, and that's
really it. So, um that's all I got.
[20:38] Okay, next sec next opportunity for any
questions or comments from the floor.
[20:48] All right, seeing none, I will call the
question. All those in favor, please
[20:51] raise your green cards.
Thank you. All opposed, please raise
[20:56] your red cards.
Okay, motion passes. Article passes.
[21:04] on to article nine to see if the town
will vote to raise and appropriate the
[21:10] sum of 3,62,470
[21:14] for general municipal operations. This
article does not include appropriations
[21:20] contained in special or individual
articles addressed separately. Majority
[21:24] vote required recommended by the
selectman. Estimated tax impact cost per
[21:29] $1,000 $5.3.
Cost for $400,000 home $210.80.
[21:36] I'd like a motion, please.
>> So move.
[21:41] » Okay. Second.
[21:46] » Can I get your name, please?
>> Okay, perfect.
[21:52] » Okay, Scott, you're up again.
>> All right, this one's going to take a
[21:57] little longer. Um, so kind of as our
tradition has been, I'm going to give
[22:01] you kind of a state of the town report
and uh I'm going to begin tonight with a
[22:05] quick update on our present financial
picture and then I'll give you a report
[22:09] on the town's 2025 budget and then we'll
take a look at the 2026 budget. Um, then
[22:16] we'll take uh a brief look at the future
and we'll take questions at the end of
[22:20] the presentation.
So, I'm happy to tell you that overall
[22:24] the town's finances are strong. For the
second year in a row, the board of
[22:28] selectment were able to use $500,000
of our unreserved fund balance to help
[22:33] with taxes this past year. The $500,000
brought the 2025 tax rate down from $522
[22:42] per thousand to $4 per thousand. This
savings was equal to $488 on a $400,000
[22:50] home. However, it's unlikely that we'll
be able to continue assistance in this
[22:55] election. Uh we do have a healthy
capital reserve savings of just over 1.1
[23:01] million.
And this year, we began investing in
[23:04] short-term certificates of deposit CDs.
So, with careful timing and planning,
[23:10] we've been able to earn several thousand
extra in revenue this year. So, that
[23:14] that helps our bottom line. Our focus
remains on efficiently delivering
[23:18] essential services to the town while
saving for the future and keeping our
[23:23] taxes in check. This is required
difficult decisions concerning what the
[23:27] town provides.
So, with respect to last year's budget,
[23:32] well, if you look, while it looks like
we overspent our budget due to offsets
[23:36] such as grants in the sale of property,
we actually underspent our 2025 budget
[23:41] by $436,000
900 $436,955.
[23:48] For the most part, this is good news,
but a big factor in underspending our
[23:53] budget will vacant positions in police,
highway, and transit stations. We did
[23:59] also have several large unexpected bills
for equipment and vehicle repairs.
[24:06] We're not overburdened by debt. The Gold
Star bond retired in 2025.
[24:11] The moral road bridge command car police
cruiser bond retires this year. The
[24:17] 10-year bond for the new fire engine
will begin payment this year. By the end
[24:22] of 2026, we will be gone only one bond
payment. Our long-term debt payments
[24:28] were an exceptionally low 2.4% of the
total operating expense last year.
[24:35] Regarding last year's approved warrant
articles, all warrant articles approved
[24:40] at last year's town meeting have been
successfully completed or are nearing
[24:44] completion. Among last year's warrant
articles was renovation of the garage at
[24:49] the Sant Lake House. Work is nearing
completion and town records will then be
[24:54] moved to their new home. The warrant
article for insulation of the town
[24:58] library was also completed. The transfer
station study was completed by Aries
[25:03] Engineering. A successful home hazardous
waste day was held and our new voting
[25:08] machine is in service.
Uh an update on the new fire engine. So,
[25:14] we have secured a bond interest rate of
$2.57%
[25:19] and we were able to get a $53,000
premium which reduced our debt to
[25:24] $437,000.
This bond will be paid back in 10 years.
[25:30] The engine has an expected delivery date
of May 2026
[25:35] and uh right now typical lead times for
orders of new fire apparatus are at
[25:40] least four years. You'll notice in the
capital reserves warrant article this
[25:46] year that we plan to begin saving for
our next fire engine. We plan to ask
[25:52] builders to approve the next engine in
approximately 10 years.
[25:57] Our repairs were completed summer of
2025 to selected areas of our town roads
[26:03] paid for by a $257,956
[26:08] uh American Rescue Plan Act ARPA grant.
On to the present 2026 budget. The
[26:15] proposed 2026 operating budget is up
just 3.4%
[26:20] from last year, down from an increase of
over 7% at the start of budget
[26:25] discussions. We thank the volunteer
members of the budget advisory committee
[26:30] for their time and effort. The
unspending of our 2025 budget and the
[26:34] small increase in our 2026 budget is
directly due to the efforts of our town
[26:40] administrator, department heads, town
employees, and volunteers. The select
[26:45] board wishes to thank them all for their
careful spending of town folks. As we
[26:50] prepare the 2026 budget, we continue to
deal with the effects of inflation and
[26:55] wage growth. This difficulty with
employee recruitment and retention is
[27:00] certainly not unique to Canada. We had
multiple employees resign in 2025.
[27:06] During the budget process, we discussed
the retention of our current employees
[27:10] as well as recruiting highquality new
employees.
[27:14] Uh on wages, eligible town employees
were given 3.5% salary raises. And just
[27:21] as a reference, the consumer price index
rose by approximately 3% last year. The
[27:28] only exception to this was in the police
department. Uh the larger raises given
[27:32] in the police department were to keep us
competitive with other talents. We have
[27:37] had a full-time officer position vacant
for over one year with no applicants.
[27:42] The raises will help us with both
recruitment and retention of our
[27:46] officers. To help pay for these reasons,
we eliminated a $70,000 cruiser from the
[27:52] police budget. In a few weeks, our
police chief will be meeting with the
[27:56] select board and town administrative to
discuss a long-term plan for wages and
[28:01] benefits for our police officers.
Uh, our town's cost for healthcare
[28:07] insurance rose again this year. For now,
we're fortunate to have several
[28:11] employees who did not take town health
insurance. town's costs for workers
[28:16] compensation and liability insurance
have both increased as well.
[28:22] Uh land use administrator, I'm not sure
if she's here, but a huge thank you to
[28:26] Jan Stout for filling in and acting as a
temporary land use administrator while
[28:32] we continue to search for a new
replacement. Michelle Hammond was hired
[28:37] and has done a great job in this very
challenging role. Delicious. Uh, I also
[28:42] wanted to point out that you'll see
differences in several wage lines and
[28:47] these were due to the unfilled
positions. As I've mentioned, we've had
[28:51] a full-time police officer resign in
February of 2025. We are still
[28:56] advertising for a full-time replacement
as well as a full-time employee at the
[29:01] highway department and a part-time
position at the transfer station.
[29:07] I'll turn it to our ambulance service,
Pentacook Rescue. I'm happy to announce
[29:12] that our cost for this essential service
only rose by 1% for 2026.
[29:18] Uh we will continue to work with our
partners at Pentacook Rescue on the best
[29:22] way to deliver emergency medical care to
our residents and visitors.
[29:28] So ending with the future uh Kennedy
remains a great place to live. Our
[29:32] proximity to conquer and easy access via
I93, 106, and 132 make us an attractive
[29:40] target for development. Development
growth will certainly impact our future
[29:44] budgets. Our planning board, zoning
board adjustment, historic district
[29:49] commission, and conservation commission
will continue to play a significant role
[29:54] in shaping our town's future.
Uh in 2026 we will begin looking at the
[30:00] uh site of the transfer station in
former town dump. We now have the Aries
[30:05] engineering report and our goal is to
upgrade the current site and equipment
[30:10] in the most cost effective and practical
way. Monitoring of groundwater is
[30:15] ongoing and we have 5 years left on our
contract wheeler at exit 17 for learning
[30:22] trash. Uh the select board in 20 uh 26
will also be looking at scheduling a
[30:28] home hazardous waste day for 2027.
Uh we continue to fund through our
[30:35] capital reserve accounts money toward a
potential though not imminent landfill
[30:39] bloure. I'd like to end this report by
thanking our town employees and
[30:43] volunteers for their service. We're
fortunate at Canbury to have very
[30:48] dedicated employees, both full and
part-time, and we are equally fortunate
[30:53] to have dedicated volunteers willing to
give their time and expertise to help
[30:58] make Canterbury a better place. This
town could not run as efficiently as it
[31:02] does without them. And as we just saw,
we have residents who have literally
[31:07] been volunteering for decades. There is
always a critical need for volunteers on
[31:12] our land use boards, our fire
department. So I would ask all of you to
[31:16] please consider volunteering in
Sullivan.
[31:19] That is the end of this year's report.
We'll now take any questions you have.
[31:27] » Thank you, Scott. Any questions or
comments from the floor?
[31:44] It's so good to be on this side of the
mic here.
[31:49] » Um, so
you can pick that mic up all over the
[31:54] » Well, that'll help. Oh, I see. Good
idea.
[31:59] Um, so I I'll start with uh three items
from the budget. um
[32:07] uh
two of them are close together uh on
[32:12] pages 20 and 21. It's actually referring
to the 2025 actuals for
[32:19] uh lines 4210.91
[32:23] supplies and new equipment for the
police department
[32:28] which jumped from a budget of 7,000 to
an expenditure of 75,000.
[32:34] Um and a similar thing under fire and
rescue equipment 4220.9
[32:41] which was budgeted 11,000 and was spent
at 28,000.
[32:45] Both of those have returned to their
original budgets and so and there were
[32:51] no offsets of any significance to pay
for them in 2025. So unless the numbers
[32:57] are not correct, if I could find out
what happened and why we don't
[33:04] anticipate any higher expenditure in
2026 on those two items.
[33:18] Yeah, Jim. The uh on the police
department, the uh supplies and new
[33:23] equipment, that money uh was for a new
cruiser. Uh late in the year, we saw
[33:29] that we're going to have a uh
a lot of extra money in the police
[33:34] department budget. And instead of trying
to uh budget for a cruiser for 26,
[33:41] uh the police chief came to us and said,
you know, can we buy a cruiser this
[33:44] year? And uh the money was already
raised. So the site said yes.
[33:50] Um the fire department
[33:57] » that was the grant for hose,
>> right? There was a grant for hose and
[34:02] equipment. Uh
for that that was a a state grant.
[34:08] » There's a separate item for fire hose
>> with a with a grant funding.
[34:17] So,
[34:23] » um, so there was the chief got a couple
of grants this past year. Um, some of
[34:28] that was for the equipment for the new
fire truck, too. Um, so that was that
[34:35] was where that came from.
>> Okay.
[34:39] » That was the the fire and rescue
equipment line. Is that what you're
[34:43] talking about?
>> Yeah. There's just no offset.
[34:45] » Okay. Um
>> so maybe it's in the wrong spot.
[34:50] » Yeah, I I think that is Y.
>> Okay.
[34:53] » Yep.
>> Thank you. Can I ask one other?
[34:57] » Of course.
>> Thank you so much. Um looking at the
[35:00] Elkins Public Library Trustees 2026
budget on page 53.
[35:08] If you add up the budget change column,
which is uh almost over to the right, so
[35:16] the difference between the 20.5 budget,
20.6 budget, down at the bottom of the
[35:21] page, it shows $77,839.
[35:26] But if you add up the numbers in that
column, which include two reductions on
[35:31] two lines, you come up with $64,116,
which is $13,000
[35:38] less. So, I'm curious about the math
there.
[35:47] I'm thinking that was a mistake on uh on
our part. Um,
[35:53] we do these in Excel spreadsheet and
probably one of the cells didn't work.
[35:59] So, I think that was a mistake on our
part.
[36:02] » Okay. Nothing nothing lost in there. In
other words,
[36:06] » wait.
[36:11] We got further information.
>> We got better information.
[36:16] So um the 77,000 is calculated from the
36
[36:24] uh 365,666
[36:27] for the 2026 budget minus the 287,821
[36:34] for the 2025 budget. So, those those
last two lines, um the budget
[36:40] plus and minus column, uh the percent
change
[36:45] that I'm actually not sure why those
ones wouldn't add to 77,000, but I have
[36:49] a feeling it's because of the workers
comp insurance, FICA taxes, and payroll
[36:54] processing. Um those are grayed out in
the 2025 budget because those weren't
[36:59] considered part of the library budget
last year. They were budgeted for just
[37:03] not included in the libraries part of
the budget whereas this year they are.
[37:07] So
>> that would do.
[37:08] » I'd have to do a little bit of math but
I'm pretty sure that's where the
[37:11] difference is coming from.
>> Okay. Yeah, that would do.
[37:14] » All right. Thank you.
[37:18] » Thank you.
[37:23] » Evan Christensen of Baptist Road. Um you
you mentioned that um compared to other
[37:30] town employees, police get a higher
raise. Correct.
[37:35] » Correct.
>> So if and that has been the policy that
[37:40] has been in place
before this?
[37:45] » No.
>> So the IRA is what you're proposing with
[37:49] this.
>> Correct.
[37:51] » Okay.
That was okay.
[38:02] Any further discussion?
[38:07] » Okay, seeing none, I will call the
question. All in favor of passing
[38:10] article article 9, the town budget,
please raise your green cards.
[38:16] » Thank you. All opposed, please raise
your red cards.
[38:21] Okay, yeses have it. Motion passes.
[38:27] Moving on to article 10 to see if the
town will vote to raise and appropriate
[38:32] the sum of $139,000
to be deposited in the following capital
[38:38] reserves.
4915.3
[38:41] highway equipment $10,000
4915.4 4 highway truck $30,000
[38:48] 4915.18
rescue truck $8,000
[38:52] 4914.19
fire truck $50,000
[38:57] 4915.24
Landfill closure $1,000
[39:02] 4915.27 27 maintenance and repair of
town buildings $10,000
[39:07] 4915.30
highway loader $30,000
[39:13] majority vote required recommended by
the selectman estimated tax impact cost
[39:18] per,000.34
cost for a $400,000 home $135.25 25
[39:24] cents. Could I get a motion, please?
>> Right. Right.
[39:31] And a second, please.
>> Second,
[39:33] » Jim Miller. Thank you.
>> All right. Stop.
[39:39] » All right. So, this um some differences
worth noting. So, as you all know, I
[39:45] think we're we use our capital reserve
uh funds to pay for big things like
[39:51] fire.
um it helps us to even out and and kind
[39:55] of smooth out um what would otherwise be
big um big raises in our budget. So um
[40:02] differences worth noting um is this year
we're beginning to save for our next
[40:09] fire truck um Chief Damash the the fire
engine we're delivering in May was
[40:17] 800,000.
>> Yeah. And that same engine now is going
[40:22] to cost how much?
>> Uh just over 1.1.
[40:25] » Yeah. So, um just an astronomical amount
of money. So, um so going to begin
[40:32] saving for that. Um landfill closure is
$1,000. We've up the maintenance and
[40:39] repair of town buildings because our
buildings are getting older and just
[40:42] need more in terms of repair.
Um the rescue truck, we have reduced the
[40:48] amount we're saving. As you'll hear in a
little bit, we are um going away from
[40:54] the little red for those of us old
enough to remember the emergency show,
[40:59] the Royant Johnny truck. Um that's
that's going to be um replaced by a
[41:05] pickup truck. Um to replace the Roy
truck would be somewhere between three
[41:10] and $400,000.
So F250 is about $300,000 cheaper. So um
[41:18] it represents a big savings to us. So
that's why we need to save less for the
[41:24] next repair. So um I think that's all I
I have on that and certainly won't take
[41:30] any questions.
[41:34] » Thank you, Scott. Any questions or
comments from
[41:45] Hello. Um, Evan Evan Christensen from
Baptist Road. Um, you say fire engine.
[41:52] Are you using the terms fire truck and
fire engine as synonyms?
[41:57] » No. Fire truck.
What are you looking at?
[42:02] » I'm I'm looking at article 10 because
you you keep saying fire engine. I'm
[42:06] trying to clarify whether or not you're
referencing 4914.19
[42:11] or no.
>> Yes, that actually should should
[42:15] properly say fire engine and fire truck.
>> Okay. I just wanted to make sure. Yeah.
[42:21] » Yeah. So, I guess for purposes of
tonight, people use J.
[42:25] » Okay. I just wanted to make sure there
wasn't a separate distinction that
[42:30] you're making.
There is but
[42:32] » yeah yeah
>> but here
[42:34] » but not here.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[42:38] » Okay.
[42:45] » Any further comments?
[42:51] » Okay. Seeing none, I will call the
question. All in favor, please raise
[42:55] your green yes cards.
Thank you. All opposed, please raise
[43:01] your red note cards.
Okay, article passes. Thank you. On to
[43:08] article 11 to see if the town will vote
to raise and appropriate the sum of
[43:13] $18,000
[43:20] for the purchase of a slide in water
tank for the highway department. Set
[43:24] amount to come from the highway
equipment capital reserve fund. Majority
[43:28] vote required. Recommended by the select
men with no tax impact. Kelvin, your
[43:33] turn.
[43:37] » Oh, sorry. Sorry. Darn it. Two in a row.
I did it and then I missed it again.
[43:40] Motion, please. Donna, and a second.
[43:47] » Perfect. Thank you. All right.
[43:56] » Yeah.
[44:00] All right, Alan, take the floor.
>> You hear me? Yeah. Okay. So, as many of
[44:04] you know, last summer we spent an awful
lot of money and grant money to bring
[44:08] the dirt roads up in town. And in the
dry summer, a lot of the dirt ropes
[44:11] didn't didn't stick, didn't hold. That
was due in part because we didn't have
[44:15] an adequate water truck. So, an effort
to combat that this year, we are trying
[44:19] to raise this up to get a slided water
tank. Uh this is a pretty versatile
[44:25] piece of equipment for the town as it
can go in and out and we can still
[44:28] utilize our trucks at other points in
the year without uh spec specifically
[44:32] designated one truck solely for water.
So we feel it's the best thing to do for
[44:36] the town that it gives us flexibility
and allows us to maintain the roads.
[44:45] » Okay. Thank you, Kelvin. Any questions
or comments from the floor? Please
[44:51] come up to the mic.
[45:01] Jan Cody Baptist still road. We have a
very dusty road, so I'm happy to hear
[45:06] about this, but can I hear a little bit
more about how it works? How many
[45:09] gallons of water does it hold? Can it do
a lot of roads at once? And that type of
[45:16] thing.
[45:22] I'll let our road agent speak to that.
[45:31] » Chief John, um I mix calcium in with the
water as we're filling it and that helps
[45:38] draw moisture out of the air and keep
that crust of the dirt road
[45:45] so that it doesn't break apart that
wash. Okay. How big is it, John? Can you
[45:50] tell me that?
>> 17.
[45:54] » Oh, wait. So, if he were to do a baptist
till the
[45:58] water,
[46:02] » sorry, just making sure there's enough
water here for the dust.
[46:08] Okay, we'll get it. That sounds like
Thank you.
[46:20] Any further questions or comments?
[46:25] » Great.
>> Okay, seeing none, I will call the
[46:28] question. All those in favor, please
raise your yes cards.
[46:32] » Thank you. All oppose, please raise your
red cards.
[46:36] Okay, the article passes.
[46:40] on to article 12 to see if the town will
vote to raise and appropriate the sum of
[46:46] $250,000
for the purchase of a dump truck for the
[46:50] highway department with $150,000 of set
funds to come from the highway truck
[46:55] capital reserve fund and $100,000 of
said funds to come from the highway
[47:00] equipment capital reserve fund. Majority
vote required recommended by the
[47:04] selectman. No tax impact.
>> Oh, I'm sorry. Motion. Motion. Can I get
[47:10] a motion, please?
[47:14] » And a second.
[47:21] » Yes.
[47:24] » All right. So, we're looking to replace
T1, which is a 2011 International. Uh,
[47:29] it's the second oldest truck other than
the Sterling, and we have not decided to
[47:33] replace it yet because it's still
serviceable. We've had a lot of issues
[47:36] with the international over the past few
years and it was due to be replaced this
[47:40] year anyways.
[47:47] » Any questions or comments from the
floor?
[47:56] » Okay, seeing none, I will call the
question. All in favor, please raise
[48:00] your yes cards.
Thank you. All those please raise your
[48:04] red cards.
Okay. Motion carries. Article passes.
[48:09] Thank you.
Article 13 to see if the town will vote
[48:14] to raise and appropriate the sum of
$100,000
[48:18] for the purchase of a truck for the fire
department and to replace the rescue one
[48:22] truck with the current command car set
amount to come from the reserve truck
[48:27] capital reserve fund. Majority vote
required. Recommended by the selectmen.
[48:32] No tax impact. Could I get a motion,
please?
[48:38] » And a second.
[48:47] » All right. So, this I I talked about a
few minutes ago. The u the little rescue
[48:52] little red rescue truck that you see
running around town for medical calls is
[48:56] old and needs to be replaced. So, uh,
our thought is we will get a new pickup
[49:02] truck. The chief's car will then become
rescue one. It's already outfitted with
[49:07] a tap and, uh, we'll be capable of
carrying the equipment. The, uh, rescue
[49:14] equipment that's currently on rescue one
will be moved to the new engine when
[49:18] that gets here. So, um, I don't think we
need to say anything more about it.
[49:25] Any questions?
And once again, it does represent a big
[49:29] cost savings for us.
[49:38] » Okay.
>> Luchi King New
[49:47] Road. Um,
in these older pieces of equipment, are
[49:53] they traded in when they purchase a new
piece of equipment? I believe we're
[49:57] going to repurpose that, don't we? That
was the last plan. I think that heard
[50:01] me.
>> Okay. Not serviceable then?
[50:06] » No.
>> Well, yeah, but not not for us.
[50:08] » Not for us. Okay. So So
>> we'll get we'll get a split or
[50:12] » Okay. It'll be sold.
>> Okay. Yeah. Well, that's I that's what I
[50:17] we prefer. This way we're not
maintaining something.
[50:24] » Okay.
Sorry.
[50:35] » What was that said?
[50:40] » We didn't want the old piece of
equipment to be held in another
[50:44] department or or another use. We then
were ended up having to maintain that
[50:50] piece of equipment through another
method. And the same thing with when we
[50:56] get uh when we're replacing some of
these other vehicles, I never hear about
[51:01] what we do with what we're replacing.
And and honestly, if we're replacing it,
[51:07] then that means it's costing us too much
money. Let's just not hold on to it.
[51:20] » Yeah. Actually, Reggie, along those
lines, we just sold a police school
[51:23] unit. So, um Ken, how much did we get
for that?
[51:27] » Um 6,350.
>> There you go.
[51:35] » Yeah. So, $6,350.
They sold it before
[51:41] and and the uh dealer had offered us
$2,500 on a trade in. So, we sold it to
[51:46] a a bidding uh company and uh we got
substantially a lot lot more money.
[51:58] » Any other questions or comments from the
floor?
[52:05] » All right, seeing none, I will call the
question. All those in favor, please
[52:08] raise your yes cards.
Thank you. All oppose, please raise your
[52:13] no cards.
Okay, article passes. Thank you very
[52:17] much.
On to article 14 to see if the town will
[52:23] vote to raise and appropriate the sum of
$50,000 for the purchase of extrication
[52:29] equipment for the fire department with
$40,000 of said funds to come from the
[52:34] firefighting equipment capital reserve
fund and $10,000 of said funds to be
[52:39] raised by taxes. Majority vote required
recommended by the selectmen. Estimated
[52:45] tax impact cost per thousand two cents.
Cost for 4 $400,000 home $9.73.
[52:53] May I get a motion, please?
Thank you. And a second right here.
[53:02] » Could you say your name, please? I'm
sorry. I'm still learning.
[53:06] » Sorry, I'm still learning name. So if
you throw your name up and you throw
[53:09] your name out then I can at least help
us guide Sam to write it down.
[53:14] » Yeah.
>> So this is uh to allow the fire
[53:19] department to purchase battery operated
extrication equipment. The equipment
[53:24] that we currently use uh is hydraulic
tools powered by a essentially gasoline
[53:31] motor. So it usually takes two people to
get that off the rig. has to be set up
[53:36] on a level piece of ground. There are
hoses that are then run from the engine
[53:41] to the uh extra patient tools. It all
takes time and the advantage of battery
[53:47] operating equipment is it's instantly
ready to use. So um
[53:53] can't think of anything else to say
about that. I chief le I hope that
[53:57] covers it for any question.
>> Yeah. Yeah. We'll gladly answer any
[54:00] questions.
>> Okay, perfect. Any questions or comments
[54:04] from the floor?
[54:13] » Okay. Yep. Come on up.
[54:20] » Patrice Rash Canterbury. Um obviously uh
Center Road. Uh so this is to educate
[54:27] people from car crashes. Correct.
>> Mostly. Yes.
[54:32] » Mostly. Yeah.
>> And it's not like getting people out of
[54:35] the second story of a window or anything
like that.
[54:37] » No, but it certainly can't be used for
forcible entry if needed.
[54:41] » Okay.
>> So, yes.
[54:42] » All right. Um
I assume that most of the extricating
[54:47] that we do is down on the interstate.
>> Does that sound right?
[54:52] » Yes. Um, do we get any kind of um
receiving
[55:01] » uh compensation uh from Thank you. from
uh the state highway patrol or anything
[55:08] like this?
>> They do not.
[55:09] » We don't. So when I mean I see the cars,
you know, heading down to the you know
[55:14] down to the highway. So okay. Thank you.
>> Welcome.
[55:27] Reggie,
um
[55:31] the old piece of this pass is the the
piece of equipment just being used now.
[55:37] Does that take option not?
[55:42] » It may be better. So Reggie is asking
what happens to the old piece of
[55:46] equipment if this passes. Chief, I
believe the plan is to keep that and put
[55:52] it on another piece of apparatus in case
we we need it. So, some of the accidents
[55:58] on I93 especially involve multiple
vehicles. So, good to have the
[56:02] capability to do simultaneous
exploations.
[56:11] » Thank you.
>> Welcome.
[56:15] Any
further questions or comments from the
[56:20] floor?
[56:24] » Okay, seeing none, I will call the
question. All in favor, please raise
[56:27] your green yes cards.
Thank you. All opposed, please raise
[56:31] your red no cards.
Motion carries. Article passes. Thank
[56:37] you.
[56:40] Article 15 to see if the town will vote
to raise an appropriate sum of $170,000
[56:48] for the purchase of a packer truck and
to retrofit it with electric hydraulics
[56:52] for the transfer station. Majority vote
required recommended by the selectman.
[56:58] Estimated tax impact. Cost per,41.
Cost for $400,000 home $16541.
[57:07] May I get a motion, please?
[57:12] and a second and then back. What was
your name again?
[57:16] » Thank you.
[57:20] » Okay.
[57:27] » Good evening. Um, I'm going to use my
notes because there are a lot of numbers
[57:31] here and I'm just getting new
information slipped to me and I want to
[57:34] make sure I get everything correct. So,
the current Packer truck was bought in
[57:39] 1998 for a whopping sum of $70,000.
So, it hasn't gone many miles on the
[57:46] road, but has had to idle the entire
time the transfer station was opened so
[57:51] that the packer can be used. However, it
does have 32,000 miles on it and 24,000
[57:59] hours of run time. So, in 2025, we had
to put uh $10,000 of repairs into it,
[58:06] and it still needs more work. The
hopper's rusted out again. Check engine
[58:10] light is on, and apparently the turbo is
making funny noises, and I don't know
[58:14] about trucks, but that can't be good.
Um, we um have the ability to get a new
[58:21] to us packer truck. A lot of communities
are going to um trucks that have arms
[58:28] that lift up the trash. So, they're
getting rid of their packer trucks. So,
[58:31] we should be able to get a new one for
about $150,000.
[58:36] Uh we're interested in spending the
additional $20,000 to retrofit the
[58:41] hydraulics so that the truck does not
have to idle at the uh transfer station
[58:46] all day. um we can use the electricity
to run the hydraulics and compact the
[58:51] trash then turn on the engine only when
we're driving it over the wheelerator.
[58:56] So that should help that new truck last
a lot longer in addition to taking care
[59:01] of any diesel fumes um that might be
collecting when it's just idle there. Um
[59:07] if we vote no on this and we have keep
the old truck, we're probably going to
[59:13] have to spend at least $20,000 to repair
it. So this way uh we will get the
[59:19] service that we need. Um we'll be
guaranteed that we'll be able to take
[59:23] care of our trash and it gives us some
breathing room um while we're still
[59:28] dealing with um management of the
transfer station and making sure uh we
[59:34] um have time to think about how to take
care of our trash in the future. Um we
[59:39] can do that uh with this truck and you
can see us. Thank you.
[59:48] Okay. Questions or comments from the
floor?
[59:55] » Hi there. Sur Alto wrote, "What is I
It's a funny term. What's the life
[1:00:01] expectancy
of a vehicle like that?"
[1:00:05] » That's an excellent question. What the
life expect?
[1:00:11] I know that's not the turn, but
>> well, the last truck, the truck we have
[1:00:17] now is 27 years old. Um, we would expect
this one to last probably at least 15
[1:00:24] years. Uh, we hope by then that we have
a an idea of how we're going to move
[1:00:29] forward uh with the transfer station. Um
the areas report gives several uh
[1:00:36] options for putting uh compactors, big
compactors in versus a packer truck. Um
[1:00:43] I think the selectman are going to look
at the uh areas report this year and and
[1:00:49] come up with a hopefully a plan for the
future and and something that uh will
[1:00:55] will get us through not just for the
next five years but or 10 years but for
[1:01:00] longer.
Thank you.
[1:01:03] » I would also think that um a truck
that's not idling all the time can only
[1:01:08] last longer. Um the 199 model lasted
until now idling the entire time the
[1:01:14] transfer station was open. This truck
would be doable now.
[1:01:19] » Hi uh Cody York Lamprey Road. Um I was
wondering is it possible for the old
[1:01:25] truck to be fit with the new hydraulics
or is that just beyond the scope of what
[1:01:28] it can do? wouldn't be worth it on that
truck.
[1:01:31] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:01:42] » Steve Russell, old children. So, what
would the cost of a compactor be?
[1:01:52] » 1 million.
[1:01:58] » That's right.
[1:02:07] You're talking just a plane like an
electric compactor that wouldn't need a
[1:02:10] truck.
>> It wouldn't need a truck. No, I I've
[1:02:13] seen them where they can be loaded onto
>> Yeah.
[1:02:18] » Right. So,
a standalone compactor is 152,000
[1:02:25] according to the area report. Um, we'd
also need need to build a canopy and a
[1:02:30] shelter for the operator and the
standalone compact. We'd still need a
[1:02:33] truck to haul it, right? We would still
need a different kind of truck to haul
[1:02:38] the compactor from here to Gilgraider.
And then if that's um with some of the
[1:02:44] other transfer stations we've talked to,
they off recommend having two
[1:02:48] compactors. So, if one's gone and being
dumped, you can still run your transfer
[1:02:51] station. I'm not sure that's necessary.
We have to investigate that. But still
[1:02:56] one of them just the compactor is 152 at
the last the first price we got.
[1:03:02] » Thank you. Thank you.
>> You're welcome.
[1:03:06] » Evan Christensen, Baptist Road. Um
my question is you say it has like this
[1:03:14] lifespan, but you also say we need to
review the report to determine the
[1:03:18] future of the transfer station. Will
this truck utilize its full lifespan or
[1:03:24] are we still trying to figure out what
we're going to do?
[1:03:27] » We are still trying to figure out what
we're do. This truck gives us the
[1:03:31] breathing room to do that without
suddenly having the truck we have die on
[1:03:35] us, but we still will be able to resell
that truck when it's when we are done
[1:03:40] with it. It might have a place in the
new transfer station. We can't say that
[1:03:44] right now, but it will certainly be
useful while we're figuring that out.
[1:03:50] » And you also mentioned that other
communities are getting rid of their of
[1:03:55] their compactor trucks. Correct.
>> Well, that's when they're going to trash
[1:03:59] pickup service throughout the town and
they need the trucks with the the lift
[1:04:03] arms to trash.
>> So, if more towns are going towards
[1:04:06] that, who will we sell it to?
>> Someone else like us.
[1:04:10] » Good.
another community like Annburg.
[1:04:14] » Okay, thank you.
>> But that's a good question. Thank you.
[1:04:19] » Hi, I'm back again. Um,
so you mentioned that the the current
[1:04:24] packer truck is idling a lot.
>> Is this new one expected to have better
[1:04:27] fuel efficiency um than the current one?
If so, how much?
[1:04:31] » I can't speak to that since I don't
actually know which truck we're buying,
[1:04:34] but it also really only has to drive six
miles over to wheelchair. So, I'm not
[1:04:39] sure that that's our biggest concern.
Uh, we'd rather have it not idling at
[1:04:43] all.
>> Gotcha. Thank you.
[1:04:45] » All right.
[1:04:56] » Lauren Lockwood, Northwest.
I'm just wondering is this such a rare
[1:05:01] and relatively small purchase and long
lived that we've never given any thought
[1:05:07] to um building up finances for it with
its own capital reserve account.
[1:05:18] Pardon? Oh, one moment. Which date?
[1:05:25] » One moment, please, while I get that
information for you, Lord. Thank you.
[1:05:41] » Oh, all right.
[1:05:45] » There we go. So, the Wheel of Bader
contract is still good for another five
[1:05:49] years and a um capital reserve fund was
never created for a packer. We didn't
[1:05:54] know how long the deal was likely to
continue. So development.
[1:06:01] » Thank you. Backup team.
[1:06:08] » Any further questions or comments from
the floor.
[1:06:14] » Okay. Seeing none, I will call the
question. All in favor, please raise
[1:06:18] your yes green cards.
>> All opposed, please raise your red
[1:06:23] cards.
Okay. Motion carries. Article passes.
[1:06:26] Thank you.
On to article 16 to see if the town will
[1:06:33] vote to raise and appropriate the sum of
$20,000
[1:06:37] for the purchase of a waste oil burner
for the highway garage. Majority vote
[1:06:41] required. Recommended by the selectmen.
Estimated tax impact cost per,0005.
[1:06:48] Cost for $400,000 home $1946.
May I please get a motion?
[1:06:56] Can I Okay, perfect. And a second.
[1:07:04] Okay,
>> so right now we blend the waste oil at D
[1:07:09] and currently a small business is
allowed and picks it up um and uses it
[1:07:13] in their own waste oil burner. with the
infrequency and I wouldn't say
[1:07:19] the demand of this constantly happening
as well as the fact that it costs us
[1:07:24] $10,000 every time Queen Harpers has to
come and take our waste oil. We feel
[1:07:28] it's best if we invest in a waste oil
burner that we can use our used oil to
[1:07:32] heat the town garage. Um
not much really to say to it. It's just
[1:07:38] a good way to recycle our oil and lower
our cost to get rid of it as well as
[1:07:41] reusing it to generate heat for our
garages to save us some money on utility
[1:07:45] costs.
[1:07:50] » Okay. Thank you, Kelvin. Any questions
or comments from the floor?
[1:07:56] » Can you come up to the microphone,
please?
[1:08:06] Beth McGuin, Southwest Road. Um,
question on the environmental impact of
[1:08:10] this and what it would be replacing to
heat the garage, highway garage. What is
[1:08:16] the current uh heat source?
>> So, currently, I believe they have a Oh,
[1:08:21] jeez. It's a It's a propane for air.
It's a
[1:08:28] in the uh highway garage in the high
days. This is where this would go.
[1:08:32] Currently, they're uh run with propane
heaters. They're big tubes on the
[1:08:37] ceiling and they they uh they burn
propane and it radiates the heat down.
[1:08:43] » Would this use those same high burners
or would it be a lower source?
[1:08:47] » No, it would be a it would be a forced
air furnace. Um and it would shoot
[1:08:52] directly out onto the floor at probably
uh six or seven feet of height.
[1:08:58] » Great. Thank you.
[1:09:04] Alice Waki Burough Road. Would residents
be able to bring their own wasted oil to
[1:09:09] be burned with this new burner
[1:09:15] station?
>> Yes, as long as you take it to the
[1:09:17] transfer station, we'll transport it to
the hobby department and have it.
[1:09:21] » Thank you.
[1:09:25] Any
[1:09:29] further questions or comments?
[1:09:36] » Josh Wayne at Bri Bush Road. Are you
going to charge people to get rid of the
[1:09:40] soil at the way station there?
>> No, we've never charged for it in the
[1:09:43] past.
>> You haven't?
[1:09:44] » No. Okay. Don't. As long as it's clean,
we take it.
[1:09:47] » These heaters, they're like not the best
heaters. They clog up all the time.
[1:09:51] You're running dirty oil through them.
Have you thought of uh the maintenance
[1:09:55] on them versus what you get now propane
cleaning?
[1:09:59] » Yeah, we did. And ultimately, this comes
down to we understand there's multiple
[1:10:02] filters and the way the system works and
we understand there's maintenance to it.
[1:10:05] The issue is we have to find a way to
get rid of our waste oil at the dump and
[1:10:08] not having it dependent person or
company that's affordable. We felt this
[1:10:13] was the best way to do it. It reme
[1:10:17] the the materials that we have on hand.
And why does it cost $10,000 for clean
[1:10:22] harbor?
Because that's what we've contracted in
[1:10:24] the past and that's what they cost us
per visit to come take our oil.
[1:10:27] » Even with the small garage taking the
oil.
[1:10:30] » When the garage doesn't come, we have to
get rid of it. That's why. And Clean
[1:10:33] Harbors charges a flat rate regardless
if it's 50 gallons or 5,000 gallons.
[1:10:37] They started a rate to come out and do
it.
[1:10:38] » And it's $10,000 every time.
>> Yes. So $10,000 over two years is the
[1:10:44] cost of this. It just seems like a
better economical choice and a way that
[1:10:48] we can reuse our our materials here. Get
them. Thank you.
[1:10:58] Anything further?
[1:11:03] » Okay, seeing none, I will call the
question. All those in favor, please
[1:11:06] raise your yes.
Thank you. All those opposed, please
[1:11:11] raise your red cards. Okay, motion
carries. Article passes.
[1:11:18] Article 17 to see if the town will vote
to establish a salt shed capital reserve
[1:11:25] fund under the provisions of RSA 351 for
the purpose of purchasing a salt shed
[1:11:31] and to raise and appropriate the sum of
$25,000 to be placed in this fund.
[1:11:38] Further to name the board of selectmen
as agents to expend from said fund.
[1:11:42] Majority vote required recommended by
the selectmen. Estimated tax impact cost
[1:11:48] per $1,0006
cost per $400,000 home $24.32 cents. May
[1:11:55] I please get a motion?
Move.
[1:11:59] » Thank you. And a second.
[1:12:08] » Okay, good. You want to say?
[1:12:12] » Okay. Salt sheds. current salt shed is
in pretty poor condition. It does need
[1:12:17] to be replaced, though it doesn't need
to be replaced immediately. But you
[1:12:23] would be surprised to know how expensive
salt sheds are. So the prices we're
[1:12:27] getting from towns around us that have
similar similarly sized structures are
[1:12:33] about $150,000.
Uh we weren't willing to just plunk that
[1:12:37] down without considering a lot of
options. um one where it might go two
[1:12:43] what kind of materials and again this is
still part of um the planning that we're
[1:12:48] trying to do of the transfer station. It
might depend on where it goes. If it's
[1:12:53] in a different place we might need a
concrete pad for it but you know we're
[1:12:57] not expecting that but we wanted to
start saving for it now so by the time
[1:13:02] we come up with a plan we would have a
reasonable amount of money to spend for
[1:13:07] the salt shed. So, um, we hope to have
half of the money saved by 2028
[1:13:14] so that the remainder of the amount for
the shed would be bonded or raise
[1:13:18] through taxes. So, um, we're just trying
to be a little proactive with our saving
[1:13:22] on this.
[1:13:27] » Thank you. All right. Questions,
comments from the floor?
[1:13:37] Okay, seeing none, I will call the
question. All those in favor, please
[1:13:41] raise your yes cards.
Opposed, raise your no cards. Okay,
[1:13:48] motion carries. Article passes.
On to article 18 to see if the town will
[1:13:55] vote to raise and appropriate the sum of
$4,000 for the purchase of a
[1:14:00] multi-function printer. Majority vote
required recommended by the selectmen.
[1:14:06] Estimated tax impact cost for $1,000 is
one cent. Cost for four thou $400,000
[1:14:12] home $389. May I please get a motion
[1:14:20] » and a second
right here.
[1:14:26] » All right. I've been waiting for this
all night because I get to do show and
[1:14:29] tell. This is what the copier is
currently doing.
[1:14:37] It makes it really hard to read. It
makes it really hard to stuff in an
[1:14:40] envelope. It makes it really hard to
read minutes. Highlight to do anything.
[1:14:44] So, here's some fun facts about the
copier we currently have. It's um used
[1:14:49] to pay uh this is what it copies all the
tax bills twice a year for everyone in
[1:14:54] town. All the voting checklists that you
see when you check in and out, all those
[1:14:59] pages of names.
Four sets. And next this year we have
[1:15:04] three elections. Um all the assessor
postcards, every board meeting in this
[1:15:09] town, all the agendas, all the minutes,
all the budgets, all these wonderful
[1:15:14] binders. It prints all of those, all the
accounts payables and all the payroll.
[1:15:18] And it was bought in 2016 for $5,000
and since then has printed 252,000
[1:15:27] pages, which means it's tired, it's old,
it's folding things up. and the office
[1:15:33] staff and everyone in the town would
appreciate your support for a new one.
[1:15:38] Thank you.
[1:15:42] » Okay, questions or comments from the
floor, please? Can you come up to the
[1:15:45] microphone where
[1:15:50] Russell
I know sometimes I'm feeling like why am
[1:15:54] I asking this question? I don't know.
Why is it not under office equipment?
[1:16:00] I mean, it's just a question.
[1:16:03] Why is you mean why isn't it just
included a line item under office
[1:16:07] equipment?
>> Yes. Uhhuh.
[1:16:08] » Because it's a very expensive piece of
office. So is there like a a price or an
[1:16:15] amount that has to be a warrant article?
[1:16:22] » No, it I personally I would say it's
prudent when you're spending this much
[1:16:26] money on a piece of equipment to have
the town approve it. So, we wanted you
[1:16:31] to know what it was for and why we're
doing it.
[1:16:34] » Okay. Thank you.
>> You're welcome.
[1:16:40] » All right. Brandon O'Donnell, Northwest
Road. So, am I correct that if we vote
[1:16:44] no, you won't be able to send us tax
bills?
[1:16:49] » We will hand write the tax bills. Don't
worry.
[1:16:54] » Or we'll just give you one of these.
But an excellent question. Goodbye.
[1:17:00] Brendan,
>> I kind of wondered if that would come up
[1:17:02] when you mentioned that it prints the
twice a year tax bills.
[1:17:06] » Uh, hi Rick Crockford.
Uh, have you investigated a service
[1:17:12] contract?
[1:17:15] » Yes.
>> Yes. Uh, the the coffee machine before
[1:17:20] the one that we have now, we had a
service contract on it. Um,
[1:17:26] I think we found in the long run it
wasn't worth the money that we were
[1:17:29] paying for it. So, uh, we opted to buy
buy a copy machine and I think we have a
[1:17:37] service contract with the, uh, provider
for maintenance on it, but um,
[1:17:44] to lease one, to have one on a lease, it
just wasn't, uh, didn't make the the
[1:17:49] dollars and cents. Okay. Thank you.
Any
[1:17:57] further questions, comments?
[1:18:01] Okay, seeing none, I will call the
question. All those in favor, please
[1:18:04] raise your yes cards.
>> Yes.
[1:18:08] » All oppose, please raise your red cards.
All right, motion carries. Article
[1:18:13] passes.
[1:18:16] on to article 19 to see if the town will
authorize the selectman to accept up to
[1:18:23] $6,000
from the community power coalition of
[1:18:27] New Hampshire Canterbury adder funds and
place that money into the renewable
[1:18:32] energy capital reserve fund majority
vote required recommended by the
[1:18:37] selectman. No tax impact. May I get a
motion please?
[1:18:43] » Second.
>> Second car. paper.
[1:18:48] » Um, I hate to say that this is a little
bit of a no-brainer, but we would just
[1:18:53] this allows us to actually take the
money that somebody's offering to give
[1:18:57] us that is our money. So, um, the DRRA
said that in the warrant article back in
[1:19:03] 2025
that we could only create the renewable
[1:19:08] energy uh, capital reserve fund, but we
couldn't deposit the money into it. So,
[1:19:13] the money has that we've gotten, which
has been about uh $5,200, has been
[1:19:18] sitting in the general fund, but now it
can actually go into the capital reserve
[1:19:22] fund that we created for it. Um, the
purpose is to, uh, support any renewable
[1:19:28] energy projects we might have upcoming
in the town. So, um this is if anybody's
[1:19:34] con curious what the adder is, there is
a um if you're on community power, you
[1:19:40] can opt up to the Canterbury basic rate
which has a uh 2 cents per 2 mills
[1:19:51] of a cent
>> 200s of a cent um added onto it and that
[1:19:55] is collected by Community Power New
Hampshire. Um and then we get that back.
[1:20:00] uh you can opt up. That is not our
current rate. But anyway, so um this
[1:20:05] warrant article just allows us to
actually put the money that we've
[1:20:08] already collected into its proper fund
so we can use it in the future.
[1:20:16] Any questions or comments from the
floor?
[1:20:23] » Seeing none, I'll call the question. All
in favor, please raise your three yes
[1:20:26] cards.
Thank you. All those please raise your
[1:20:30] red note cards.
Motion carries. Article passes.
[1:20:37] » Article 20
to see if the town will vote to
[1:20:42] discontinue the San Lake House capital
reserve fund created in 2011. Said funds
[1:20:49] and accumulated interest to date of
withdrawal are to be transferred to the
[1:20:54] municipalities general fund. Majority
vote required. recommended by the
[1:20:59] selectman with no tax impact. May I get
a motion, please?
[1:21:06] » And a second,
[1:21:12] » can't I'll I'll start off and you can
fill in what I I miss. And I apologize
[1:21:17] in advance. I I drew the short straw and
got this. It's hopefully the the most
[1:21:23] boring boring article we have. So, um
the uh DRRA, the Department of Revenue
[1:21:30] Administration, um is telling us that we
have to do this. That that's kind of it
[1:21:35] in a nutshell. But the backstory is
about 8 years ago, the tax laws changed.
[1:21:41] The town started to have to take an
annual forced distribution from the Sand
[1:21:45] Lake Trust Fund. Those of you that have
attended town meeting for the past
[1:21:50] several years have seen that as a one
article. we literally have to take
[1:21:55] payout from that and um that's the way
the DRA told us to do it. So the bank
[1:22:03] required the money to be placed into a
special account that could only be used
[1:22:07] for betterment improvements and other
purposes on or about the Sand Lake whole
[1:22:13] place, not the general fund. So since
2016, we've been placing money in the
[1:22:19] Sand Lake house um fund. So, in 2023,
the DRRA told us that we needed to start
[1:22:27] doing a warrant article annually to
allow us to put that money in. In 2025,
[1:22:35] the DRRA changed their minds and now
require that we put the money into an
[1:22:40] ETF instead of a a fund. So, we need to
move all the funds into that uh into the
[1:22:47] new ETF. Um,
[1:22:54] I think that that really sums it up that
this one our goal is to move the money
[1:23:00] uh to the general fund um and then it
will be transferred uh into the new
[1:23:05] account. So um to anticipate why did the
DRRA change their mind? They literally
[1:23:11] have three people that cover the entire
state. So, um, every single municipality
[1:23:16] and school district has their warn
articles read by a very overworked
[1:23:21] person. So, um, one of the three was
replaced by a new person in 2023.
[1:23:27] Um, so it it seems as though this is the
decision now. So, so here we are.
[1:23:37] Just change
>> gladly answer any questions or or Ken
[1:23:43] will answer any questions. Just for
clarifications, an ETF is an expendable
[1:23:47] trust fund.
>> Sorry, Andrew.
[1:23:50] » The the cap reserve fund and an
expendable trust fund are different. Uh
[1:23:55] again, this is what the DRRA is telling
us we have to do. Um so this is what
[1:24:00] we're doing.
That's
[1:24:04] » questions or comments from the floor.
>> What happens if we don't know?
[1:24:09] » Could you step up to the mic and
identify yourself? And
[1:24:12] » no, it's a good question. No, Joshua.
>> Okay.
[1:24:17] » All right. Seeing none, I will call the
question. All those in favor, please
[1:24:20] raise your yes cards.
All opposed, please raise your no cards.
[1:24:26] Motion carries. Article passes.
[1:24:31] Article 21
to see if the town will vote to modify
[1:24:36] the optional tax credit for a service
connected total disability on
[1:24:40] residential property in accordance with
RSA 7235
[1:24:45] from its current value of 100 $1,400
to $2,000. Majority vote required
[1:24:53] recommended by the selectman. No tax
impact. Could I get a motion, please?
[1:25:00] and a second.
[1:25:04] » Okay.
>> All right. So, last year the state
[1:25:08] changed veterans tax credits. They
legislator went through and in in the
[1:25:13] change essentially what it did was it
disallowed uh total 100% total disabled
[1:25:18] service connected veterans from being
able to collect multiple tax credits.
[1:25:22] So, in an effort to keep those residents
whole, um, we're upping the the current
[1:25:28] $1,400 to $2,000. That way, it keeps
them all whole. It's essentially the
[1:25:32] same tax credit as before, as well as
updating us to a uh,
[1:25:39] I guess to be competitive with all the
other towns. Most towns rated at $2,000.
[1:25:43] We haven't changed ours in 30 some odd
years. So, it's just an attempt to get
[1:25:46] everybody whole and update the the tax
credit. So, All
[1:25:56] right. Thank you. Questions or comments
from the floor.
[1:26:03] » Okay.
[1:26:08] Teresa Wyman, Shaker Road. I'm curious,
is this only for disabled veterans
[1:26:15] or is it for all veterans?
>> No, just 100% total disabled. Thank you.
[1:26:29] » Any other questions or comments from the
floor?
[1:26:42] » Um, I'm entirely in favor of this. I
just like a clarification. If we are
[1:26:48] raising this um this credit, how is
there no tax impact?
[1:26:59] » So no take currently there's about 13
people who get this credit what they've
[1:27:02] done and they're getting the $1,900
rate. So with them losing the ability to
[1:27:07] get the multiple tax credits, we're
upping it to $2,000 to stay in line with
[1:27:11] the other towns. Last year's bill
allowed you to up it from I believe
[1:27:15] $5,000 to $6,000 and we just upped it to
$2,000. It was currently at 14. So the
[1:27:20] tax impact I guess would be $1,300 less
if if that's it's $100 more per person.
[1:27:28] So or 13 people you look at $1,300 less
on your tax force.
[1:27:33] » Okay, that's not clear, but I'm sure you
figured it out.
[1:27:42] Any other questions or comments?
[1:27:47] » All right, seeing none, I will call the
question. All those in favor, please
[1:27:50] raise your green yes cards.
All opposed, please raise your red no
[1:27:55] cards. Motion carries. Article passes.
[1:28:01] And that concludes our warrant articles.
So, thank you everybody. Now is the
[1:28:06] opportunity for anybody to come up to
discuss any other business for the town.
[1:28:12] Please, as of line up at the microphone,
state your name, and where you live in
[1:28:16] town. Hi, I'm Kelly Short. Um, live in
one panel road. Um, this is a
[1:28:24] celebration and a thank you. And do you
mind if I turn my back on you folks for
[1:28:28] a minute? You're right. Yeah.
Hey, so 21 years ago, for those of you
[1:28:34] who might have been here then, uh,
Jennifer Hopkins and I stood in front of
[1:28:38] the town and asked you to bond $800,000
so that we could contribute to the
[1:28:44] conservation of what was then the Brook
um, sorry, the Gold Star Farm down on
[1:28:49] the Intervale. It was a project that
Canterbury and the city of Conquered and
[1:28:54] the Forest Society and the Trust for
Public Land all did together. And I
[1:28:58] didn't bring the didn't check the
details, but my memory says that we
[1:29:01] succeeded uh in protecting almost a
thousand acres of land and it was 3 to
[1:29:08] five miles of riverfront
um and some of the best 625 acres of
[1:29:14] farmland here in Canterbury. So, it was
a huge ask that we made of the town 21
[1:29:20] years ago and in 2025 we paid the last
bond installment on the 20-year plan.
[1:29:26] So, yay.
Thank you.
[1:29:32] One of the wonderful things you have at
the beginning is its rural character and
[1:29:36] the beauty of the town and how much the
town's people support that. So, thank
[1:29:40] you very much,
[1:29:50] » Beth McGuin, Southwest Road. And may I
also turn my backs to
[1:29:56] Two years ago, the community power
coalition or community power committee
[1:30:01] in town asked you for zero money in a
bond. But you voted to have community
[1:30:08] power because it does a lot of things
for us. And one of the things that we
[1:30:13] said it would do is save you money.
Right now, we're not saving you money.
[1:30:19] And we want to hear from you about that.
and we have set up a listening session
[1:30:24] for April 7th at 7 o'clock. We want to
hear your thoughts. We want to consider
[1:30:31] our best actions. We want to represent
you and I promise we will give you the
[1:30:36] best answers we have for all of the
metered customers who can't get on to
[1:30:41] community power. Please join us. We'll
have food and drink. No creepier though
[1:30:46] unless Steve Almond steps up.
[1:30:52] » Town hall
[1:31:02] » Smith, Southwest Road. And I'm also
going to address the the crowd here
[1:31:07] because there's a lot of great things to
say to everybody. Um, first of all, how
[1:31:11] many of you saw uh yesterday's conquered
monitor
[1:31:18] and a bunch of you uh on Wednesday night
were at the town hall for pub night
[1:31:23] and I bet a lot of you have been to the
library lately for some event or
[1:31:27] program. So, I wanted to just take a
minute. Um, Scott in his report at the
[1:31:34] beginning thanked all of the town
employees and volunteers, but I wanted
[1:31:38] to take a minute to say a thank you from
all of us to one special town employee,
[1:31:46] our very own Rachel Baker.
[1:31:55] and maybe and maybe you all know what a
great librarian she is, but she's also
[1:32:00] such an incredible community builder
supporter of people of all ages and
[1:32:05] needs. She also serves on the Canterbury
Shaker Village board as a liaison from
[1:32:11] the town to the board and representing
our needs there. Um she has served the
[1:32:16] last year as president of the library
association doing amazing things for
[1:32:22] librarians all over the state. So, I
just wanted to say a huge big thank you,
[1:32:27] not just from me, but from all of us.
Thank you, Rachel.
[1:32:42] » Okay, I came down here from up there
excited to talk to you as a resident and
[1:32:46] a neighbor, not just a select board. And
if you all turned to the end of your
[1:32:50] town report and you saw that we had
another special recognition to the
[1:32:55] Canterbury Community Market LLC members
um who have kept for the past uh 20
[1:33:03] years it 25 years now a store in the
center. The fact that we don't have a
[1:33:08] store now is being missed by many
people. They are working diligently to
[1:33:12] fill that hole again. And um I would
just mention our thanks to this
[1:33:18] dedicated group who have cheered each
other on and kept their purpose for the
[1:33:22] benefit of the entire Candy Mary
community. And thank you to them all. If
[1:33:28] any of you are here, stand up and let us
clap like crazy for you.
[1:33:41] Thank you.
[1:33:48] » Yes. And while I'm here, Teresa reminds
me that there is still food in the back.
[1:33:52] Please support the farmers market.
Opening day is Wednesday, June 3rd, 4 to
[1:33:57] 6:30. Please be there.
>> I've just sampled the food. It's really
[1:34:02] good.
[1:34:08] R's he um from excuse me Widen Road and
I'm going to turn my back on you. I hope
[1:34:14] you're listening.
I'm holding too many things. One of them
[1:34:18] is a sample uh window insert. There is
an actual window insert that's from
[1:34:24] someone's window back there. You can see
it's a lot. It's the same same stuff.
[1:34:30] Thank you, Ruth.
He banner. Um, how many people here have
[1:34:35] window inserts?
And and I you can talk to them. I think
[1:34:40] they're all very happy with them.
They're saving these people money and
[1:34:46] they are saving energy and they're we're
lowering our carbon emissions in town if
[1:34:51] you're using these. We have them in our
house and we are having another build
[1:34:56] this November and we're really hoping
that a lot of people in town will
[1:35:01] consider getting these. They're low
price. They're high quality. You can
[1:35:05] back and touch it and uh pick it up.
This will um and then we will need
[1:35:11] volunteers to help build it. Everyone
who gets one of these has to come and
[1:35:16] help build it. And plus other people
like ourselves who aren't buying them
[1:35:20] this year are going to be helping.
Anyway, if you feel like this is a
[1:35:24] terrific project, please talk to Claudia
Ladinger or myself or Nancy Frank
[1:35:30] because we're trying to lead up the
group that is doing all the effort to
[1:35:34] get ready to do this build. So, thank
you. And we're having an information
[1:35:40] night on March 24th and we have little
cards to remind you of that. It's not
[1:35:45] committing anything. you just come in
and hear a little bit more about it and
[1:35:49] um you you custo you get your your
windows custom measured and then they
[1:35:55] will be built and ready for you at the
beginning of the winter.
[1:35:59] » And the builds that are very fun.
>> Yeah. U Sue Russell, we got them done
[1:36:05] upstairs cuz those are really I think
not that old but old windows. And I'm
[1:36:11] telling you, when they measured, it was
perfect. When they got all built and we
[1:36:16] put them in snug, snug, snug, work
great.
[1:36:22] So, thank you.
[1:36:32] » Anyone else with other town business?
[1:36:39] Um, I'd just like to recommend if
possible that tax impacts are rounded
[1:36:47] another decimal place out because they
can be off by several dollars for the
[1:36:52] average home in Canterbury with the
current per 1,000
[1:36:58] rounding that's done.
[1:37:08] Ellen Scaroni Club Road. I just want to
thank all of you on the select board and
[1:37:13] our staff because um we hear about
problems in so many other towns but we
[1:37:18] don't have them here. So, thank you very
much.
[1:37:34] Okay. Anything else? I have one further
announcement that I failed to make at
[1:37:38] the beginning, but this would be my
reminder. So, now it's just my initial
[1:37:42] and my reminder. Any newly elected town
officials, please come up to the stage
[1:37:46] after the meeting concludes so that we
can swear you into your new position.
[1:37:51] » And now, if I could please have a motion
to close the meeting.
[1:37:58] and a second, please.
[1:38:03] » All those in favor, please raise your
green yes cards.
[1:38:07] » Perfect. Thank you very much, everybody.
Appreciate you very much.