Wilton and Farmington elected new members Tuesday to each of the town’s five-person boards of selectmen.
John Black won the Wilton seat with 373 votes, beating incumbent Terry Brann, with 171 votes and Gerald Whitney with 132.
Black, co-owner of Rocky Hill Landscaping in Wilton, said he has a “brain full” of ideas for longterm investment in the community while he is on the board.
“We’ve got to create business,” he said. “We’ve got to get business in here, whether it’s through tax breaks, or TIF or whatever we can.”
Black said he wants to find new avenues of revenue to offset the declines in some town revenues and increased school budgets, a combination he said is responsible for increasing property tax rates.
He suggested that the town move to attract more families and increase town revenues.
“You add some really good programs by adding recreation programs and making use of the lake,” he said. “It’s not going to happen overnight.”
In Farmington, Michael Fogg was elected to a two-year board of selectmen seat. Fogg received 323 votes and candidate Matthew Smith received 298 votes for the seat left open with Andrew Hufnagel resigned.
Fogg, a retired teacher at the high school technical center, said that while on the board his initial plans are to learn what the issues are and find out what work needs to be done.
“I’m anxious to learn,” he said.
He said that he wants to enter the board open minded and seek out realistic, practical solutions for problems that arise.
“I’m not afraid of change, if you have to change something,” he said.
The Phillips-based School Administrative District 58 budget was approved 318-162. The $9 million budget, up 0.2 percent from the year before, includes a dean of students position and the initial work for adding a two-day pre-kindergarten program.
Mt. Blue Regional School District residents approved a $31 million budget as of Wednesday, with the unofficial tally of 1,369 yes and 913 no.
The budget was voted down in two towns, Chesterville and New Vineyard, while it was approved in Farmington, Industry, Temple, New Sharon, Vienna, Weld and Wilton.
The $1.29 million increase, up 4.3 percent from the year prior, is partially due to a $400,000 reduction in state education funding and $600,000 in fixed cost increases.
Kaitlin Schroeder — 861-9252
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