Norridgewock Town Meeting voters overwhelming agreed Monday to appoint the town clerk and town treasurer, rather than keep the positions elective. The change will take effect in 2017.
The vote to change the job of town clerk to one the town manager will fill by appointment was approved 203-57, according to Town Manager Richard LaBelle. The vote to change the position of treasurer to an appointive one was 205-59.
The referendum marked the third time in recent years that Norridgewock has voted on making the positions appointive.
“Obviously the people of Norridgewock have spoken pretty clearly in terms of what their desire is for services rendered at the office,” LaBelle said Tuesday.
The question was brought to voters after a petition was delivered to town officials following the resignation of the elected town clerk in December. Town Clerk Kerri Everett resigned in December, saying the amount of time required for the job was not worth the pay. The Norridgewock town clerk is responsible for elections, data collection and all records kept by the town.
Norridgewock is one of several central Maine communities to recently consider the issue of how town government employees are chosen with Anson, Benton and Skowhegan also implementing or considering changes to the positions of town clerk, treasurer or tax collector.
In Norridgewock, both town clerk and treasurer are elected to one-year positions. The town’s 2016 budget includes $3,500 budgeted for the position of town clerk and $2,500 for treasurer.
The town rejected the change in 2008 and 2012.
In balloting Monday, Sharon Dodge was elected town clerk with 51 votes and Jessica Everett was elected treasurer.
All five incumbent selectmen were re-elected Monday night. Elected to one-year terms were Ronald Frederick with 162 votes, James Lyman with 148 votes, Sara Wilder with 130 votes, Matthew Everett, with 115 votes and Charlotte Curtis with 106 votes.
Heidi Chartrand and Paula Beach were elected to the School Administrative District 54 board of directors, with 194 votes and 153 votes, respectively, LaBelle said.
A proposal to consider changes to the town’s mass gathering ordinance was approved by residents Monday in a vote by a show of hands. Changes will include requiring more notice to be given to residents before such gatherings and slight changes in allowable noise levels.
The proposals follow several years of the town working on developing and implementing protocol for gatherings of more than 1,000 people with the Great North Music and Arts Festival, an annual music festival that draws about 3,000 people to Norridgewock.
An application previously had to be filed 90 days before a mass gathering. The changes will push the application deadline back to 120 days before the event.
On the business side of Monday’s Town Meeting, the town will have to raise $815,737 in taxes this year, down 1.53 percent, or about $12,600 over last year.
The tax rate going into this year’s Town Meeting was $21.50 for every $1,000 in property valuation. A final tax rate will be set once town officials know what the school budget is to be and the town’s share of the county budget will be.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter:@Doug_Harlow
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