Dresden Town Meeting to finalize change in staff appointments

Voters in Dresden will decide Saturday on a proposed budget that includes funds to pay professional office staff.

The $987,193 spending plan reflects removing about $33,400 to pay the salaries of the elected town clerk, treasurer and tax collector salaries, and adding $60,340 to pay for the appointed clerk, treasurer and tax collector.

Dresden voters opted at a special town meeting earlier this year to end the practice of electing town office positions annually after concerns were raised over incomplete or poor service in the Town Office.

Under the reorganization, Dresden would retain a town meeting form of government, and the position of administrative assistant would be changed to town administrator with an increase in both duties and pay. And the town staff would be hired, supervised and be accountable to the Board of Selectmen.

In all, the proposed budget is $97,392 or nearly 15% higher than the current year’s budget.

Among the other changes reflected in the budget proposal is an additional $91,100 to be spent on the town’s highway budget.

Saturday’s meeting is the second part of the annual Town Meeting, which started with Tuesday’s election, at which Gerald Lilly, former one-term selectman and former Dresden fire chief, defeated the incumbent Selectman Dwight Keene, 103 to 63.

The Town Meeting will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday at Pownalborough Hall.