Selectmen disagree on whether to include articles at fall meeting
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

Ashburnham Selectmen got into a yelling match at the end of their meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 16, about whether to allow the regional School Committee to place articles regarding capital maintenance on the warrant for this fall's Town Meeting.

Selectmen Jonathan Dennehy and Christopher Gagnon were at odds regarding whether to include the articles.

"I'm against it in principle," Dennehy said.

He said selectmen did not agree to put on a request from the Council on Aging to fund a new position that would provide outreach to homebound seniors. Nor was the board supporting an article to give funds to the building committee for the Breshnan Scouting and Community Center.

"I vote no. I don't want to be a hypocritical," Dennehy said.

Gagnon, on the other hand, advocated supporting the article and letting voters decide because the School Committee is returning interest from the building projects.

"I don't blame them for asking for that money in the fall," he said.

Board Chairman Mark Carlisle said he didn't want to make a decision until he knew the final amount the School Committee would be requesting.

Selectmen agreed to make a final decision at the tri-board meeting with the School Committee on Tuesday, Oct. 23.

The selectmen agreed to put a number of non-monetary articles on the warrant and to support them at Town Meeting.

These articles include an article to eliminate the 75-member quorum requirement for annual and special Town Meetings.

"I think if people are serious about something on the warrant (they will attend)," said Carlisle. "If they are not, they can

accept the way they turn out."

They supported a series of fund transfers that would cover some of the Highway Department's budget issues, which have decreased their operating budget to about $5,000. And they decided to support the Low Impact Development Bylaw, which is being proposed.

They also decided to support an article that should finally transfer a piece of property on Sherbert Road to Habitat for Humanity. The town has tried to transfer the property through two other articles, both which have passed at Town Meeting but have failed to legally transfer the property.

"This is a real mess," Dennehy said.

Selectmen decided to keep an article dealing with a moratorium on building in the Village Center area of town for one

Selectmen took interim Town Administrator Paul Boushell's recommendation and removed an article that would fund the move of town hall offices back to the renovated building.

He said he would have a better idea of the cost at a special Town Meeting, which will probably be held immediately prior to the annual Town Meeting in May. This article will be bundled with money to finish funding the lease for the space at Oakmont Regional High School and to furnish the Town Hall.

At Boushell's recommendation, Selectmen removed two articles dealing with health insurance for retired employees.

In other business, Boushell said the transition from the town-run Web site to the Web site designed and managed by Virtual Town Hall was not "seamless."