BELGRADE — Voters at the annual Town Meeting on Saturday approved moving forward with a plan to create a Belgrade Water District, and passed most of the proposed $3.6 million budget.
Instead of attending a live meeting, residents voted on the town warrant at the polls at the Belgrade Community Center for All Seasons at 1 Center Drive (Route 27).
The budget represents an increase of about $300,000 from last year, according to Town Manager Anthony Wilson. The spending increase, however, will not automatically mean an increase to property taxes because officials said they plan to offset the increase with greater use of nondesignated funds and nontax revenue.
Residents authorized the town to continue negotiations with the Maine Department of Transportation to create a Belgrade Water District to serve the triangle section of town outlined by Routes 27, 135 and 8, where past road salt storage has contaminated the aquifer that serves wells in the area.
Two articles related to this issue were on the warrant:
• Article 22 asked if residents favored the creation of the water district, which serves as voter ratification of a bill passed by the Maine Legislature last year to create the district. That article passed 249-135.
• Article 23 authorized the Board of Selectpersons to negotiate a contract with the Maine DOT to address the problem, which passed 349-49. Execution of the contract is still subject to voter approval, once finalized.
In other voting, Melanie Jewell and Richard Damren Jr. were reelected to the Board of Selectpersons, with Jewell having received 276 votes; Damren, 264 votes; and Nicholas Alexander, 158 votes.
Five candidates were on the ballot for a three-year position on the Regional School Unit 18 board of directors. Sharon Frost won the race with 169 votes. Of the other four candidates Penelope Morrell received 125 votes, Brian D. Wedge received 56 votes, James M. Smith received 25 votes and Stacey Dowling received 18 votes.
Two of the 41 articles in the warrant failed, including:
• Article 7, which would have raised $5,000 for the Belgrade Lakes Region Business Group’s Fourth of July fireworks, was defeated 195-217.
• Article 24, which would have raised $5,000 to improve pedestrian infrastructure and signs to reduce vehicle speeds in the village, was defeated 182-219.
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