[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.

Canterbury NH Second Session Annual Town Meeting - 13 March 2026

Transcript