The Annual Town Meeting held at the fire station on Wednesday, June 8th was a lively and well attended affair. Voters are finally beginning to get the message that they are the ones who run this town and how much of a difference can be made by attending town meetings and expressing their opinions by the way they vote. Fifty-seven (57) registered voters out of a current total of 486, questioned, debated, opposed or approved the twenty-four (24) articles on the warrant. In the end, all articles passed, although some with a good deal of discussion from the floor.

A determined Marshall Rosenthal insisted the RIGHT TO FARM BY-LAW was unnessary. Nine (9) others voted with him against the article, but the majority was in favor and the article passed. Voters did not object to budget approval of general government expenses which had an increase of $1,875.00 in total, but the reinstatement of an Assistant Town Clerk position with an annual compensation figure at $500 was questioned by Robert Herrmann. A great deal of interest in the Highway expenses and the $17,152.40 increase produced a request by Gale Carlow to amend the article to show 'hourly pay and vacation, personal and sick days' figures be reduced from the 10% to a 2 1/2% raise. Moderator, Eric Krutiak, asked the voters if the article should be amended and the answer was no. Voters approved the article as written by a majority (11 opposed).

A number of questions were put to the Select Board about the use and misuse of the Stabilization Fund account generated by the transfer of $27,280.00 to the FY06 Highway Road Maintenance Account. Sandra Brazee (Treasurer), Emile Mazur (Select Board Chair), and Sue McGrath (Tax Collector, Office Mgr), all did their best to explain how the money in this account is used. The article (#4) passed with the two/thirds majority necessary, although a number of voters did not vote on this article. The vote was 9 NO to 29 YES.

Article 23 initiated an unusually long discussion on the transfer of $30,000 from the FREE CASH account to the Highway STRAP account. Questions ranged from why the town had to put the money aside before needed and how residents in the Brier were going to be able to get down to Main Road. Peter Kelleher, Selectman, clarified the transfer as "wiggle money", an amount that would be immediately available when needed to get the project underway. Included in the response by Emile Mazur was a rather confusing, but lengthy talk on the habitat of the lizard, evidently a problem in the planned culvert project. You learn a lot at these town meetings.

A few articles needed amending because of typing errors, but nothing remarkable was required. The meeting began promptly at 7PM and adjourned at 8:55PM. Before the close of the meeting, the Select Board asked the Moderator to introduce the idea of possibly changing the day of the annual town meeting to a Saturday. The Moderator expressed his reluctance to address the issue before he had a chance to check the legality of the move, but Mr. Mazur wanted the reaction of the voters that were there to see if he should persue the idea. A 'trial period' of 2 years was suggested by Mr. Mazur before an attempt to change the town by-law which states the meeting is to be held the first Tuesday in May. This particular group of voters did not appear to be in favor of such a change. by Town Clerk