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Date: 5/3/2022
SOUTHAMPTON – During a meeting on April 26, the Southampton Select Board decided to push the Annual Town Meeting to 7 p.m. on June 7 at William E. Norris School.
The meeting was originally supposed to be conducted on May 3, but the board felt that they needed more time to discuss the budget and articles that will be voted on.
During a joint meeting between the Select Board and Finance Committee on April 21, Town Moderator Robert Floyd brought several points in front of the Select Board for a June meeting, arguing that Gov. Charlie Baker already approved June meetings statewide, anyway. Additionally, Floyd said that it is unlikely a new Select Board member would be chosen during the upcoming Town Election on May 17, and an extra month of time would give the Select Board ample opportunity to deliberate over the budget.
Floyd also added that the town administrator would have more time to develop a stronger warrant with accompanying explanations and summaries, and the Police Department would have additional time to post the warrant copies, rather than posting them last minute.
With the extra time, the Select Board can use the next couple of weeks to also analyze the Annual Town Meeting articles, which include an article looking to form a Town Charter Commission, as well as an item that asks the town to rescind a previous Town Meeting article for a debt exclusion Greenway.
Residents will also be asked to vote on several capital requests, including roof repair for the William Norris school, and cemetery water line replacement, among other items.
Annual Town Election update
The Annual Town Election for Southampton is still May 17 at the Town Hall from 12 to 8 p.m., according to Town Clerk Luci Dalton.
The first draft of the ballot was provided to Reminder Publishing and includes an updated version of what the positions currently look like. The town is looking to fill the following seats: one town moderator for one year; six library trustee seats for three years; one Select Board seat for three years; one almoner seat for four years; one Board of Assessor seat for three years; one Board of Health seat for three years; one cemetery commissioner seat for three years; one Finance Committee seat for one year; one Finance Committee seat for two years; one Finance Committee seat for three years; two housing authority seats for five years; one personnel policy & procedure seat for one year; one personnel policy & procedure seat for two years; one personnel policy & procedure seat for three years; one Planning Board seat for five years; one Hampshire Regional School Committee (HRSC) seat for two years; one HRSC seat for three years; one Norris School Committee seat for two years; one tree warden seat for one year; and one water commissioner seat for three years.
The ballot will also include one question, which asks residents to vote on whether or not the town should be allowed to be exempt from the provisions of Proposition 2 ½ to pay costs for the purchase of a new $35,000 wheel loader for the Highway Department.
According to the ballot, there are no contested races at the moment, but the town is still looking for candidates for the three Finance Committee seats, as well as the three personnel policy & procedure seats.
The Select Board were scheduled to discussesalaries in the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) budget on May 3, at a meeting that took place after press time.