Chester voters approve budget, full-time firefighter

CHESTER – Voters easily approved a 6.6 percent increase to the town budget at last night's annual town meeting as well as a new full-time firefighter for the fire department, increasing the department's staff to two.

Several other smaller warrant articles were approved, but late last night voters will still debating a handful of items.

According to figures prepared by the budget committee, the budget increase represents an increase in the tax rate of 46 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. For the owner of a $348,000 home (the budget committee's estimate of the average Chester home value) this works out to an increase of $160.08 a year.

The budget was amended twice, adding a total of $967, in both cases to correct line items to allow for budget adjustments later in the year.

The only serious discussion on the budget was whether to remove $10,000 budgeted by the board of selectmen, and approved by the budget committee, to pay the elected road agent for management and clerical work. Previously, Chester's road agent received no pay and only collected compensation if he leased the town a piece of equipment he owned. Some years this amounted to several hundred thousand dollars a year, although last year, outgoing road agent Rob Brown claimed he only was paid $28,000. In voting on Tuesday, Brown lost his bid for a third-term as road agent to Mike Oleson, however he has requested a recount.

Resident Charlotte Lister sponsored the amendment to remove the $10,000 payment.

"I believe this is the salary for a road agent; road agents have never had a salary," she said.

Brown, who seconded the amendment, said he helped develop this year's highway budget but did not agree with the decision to include the payment, which he referred to as a stipend. Anytime a paid position is created it should be done by warrant article, Brown said, pointing to the creation of a firefighter position, which was taken care of on an earlier article.

"Any new position (paid) by the town should be in a warrant article, and that's what this is going to be," Brown said.

Budget committee Chairman Rhonda Lamphere denied that the payment was a stipend or a salary.

According to Lamphere the money is simply there as a way for the road agent to bill the town to do administrative work, like applying for grants or inspecting town roads, without trying to lease the town a piece of equipment. In the past, several budget committee members have pointed out, a road agent charged the town $45 an hour -- the cost of renting a truck -- to drive around and inspect roads.

The amendment to eliminate the money was shot down by a voice vote.

Voters did pass article 10, which approved $21,000 to convert a part-time firefighter position to a full-time one. The position would also be an emergency medical technician.

Chester Fire Chief Rich Antoine said the new full-time position is needed because currently there is only one full-time firefighter and EMT on duty during the day -- the chief himself. Antoine said that the demand on the fire department has been growing during the daytime, but the number of volunteer or call firefighters available has been dwindling. Also, Antoine said, to meet federal standards, two firefighters need to be available.

Resident Gene Charron, who is also a state representative, agreed with Antoine.

"Years ago, if we had a fire call at town meeting, the town meeting virtually stopped in its tracks until the fire was put out. Those days are gone," Charron said. "You need to make sure that we've got to have people on the home front who can jump on the trucks and respond to your home."

The article passed by a ballot vote, 106 to 55.

After a brief debate, an article requesting $13,900 to re-number all the houses in town was passed in a ballot vote, 112 to 51. Several other warrant articles were passed with little or no debate, including:

A warrant article asking for $250,000 to repair the dam at Wason Pond Recreation Area, which was damaged during the Mother's Day floods last year, was tabled until all other articles were considered. Late last night the question still had not been addressed.