PELHAM – Voters at Saturday’s annual Town Meeting will consider at $4.4 million operating budget and $40,000 for a new fire chief’s vehicle.
Town Meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in the elementary school at 45 Amherst Road.
Select Board Chairman Mark Santos said he does not anticipate any controversy over the purchase of a fire chief’s vehicle because it is part of the capital planning budget which is set as much as a decade ahead of time.
“People already have an idea two years in advance what’s going to be on a warrant article, so if we get any input for questions it’s usually way before it even needs us to be OK’d as a warrant expenditure,” said Santos.
If approved, a Ford Explorer would replace the 2004 Crown Victoria the department now uses.
Town Meeting will also consider whether to spend $25,000 on structural repairs to the Community Center in order to prepare it for painting.
The town’s proposed $4,376,891 operating budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 would increase by just over 2.3 percent from this year’s figure of $4,285,413. More than half of that money goes to the schools.
The proposed appropriation for education is $2,699,934, down less than 1 percent from this year’s figure of $2,710,491. The decrease is due to a slightly smaller contribution to the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District. That number is $1,125,782, down from $1,214,614 last year.
Other items on this year’s warrant include $3,000 for a hand roller and $1,800 for a gas-powered chop saw with wheel kit for the Highway Department.
Voters will also be asked to approve spending $8,000 for a commercial grade lawn mower to be used at the Community Center and on other town lawns.
Another item on the warrant is $7,000 to sand blast, repair, and paint the frame and body on the town’s 2007 Ford Truck. “We are trying to get a few more years out of that truck by keeping the rust from compromising the frame,” said Santos. He expects the town will have to replace that truck in three or four years.
Voters in Tuesday’s town election will decide the only contested race, for a one-year term as moderator. Incumbent Daniel Robb of 37 Amherst Road is challenged by Joseph Leonard Jr. of 46 Arnold Road.
Polls will be open from from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Ramsdell Room of the Pelham Library at 2 South Valley Road.
Santos is not seeking reelection to the Select Board after having served two terms. Alisa Christine Pearson of 19 South Valley Road is the only candidate for that seat.
Robert Rowell of 312 Daniel Shays Highway is seeking reelection to a three-year term on the Board of Assessors and there are no candidates to fill a one-year vacancy on that panel.
And there are no candidates for a three-year term on the Board of Health.
Darius Edward Modestow of 7 Arnold Road is running unopposed for reelection to a three-year seat on the School Committee. There are no candidates for another open three-year seat on that panel.
Gayle Barton of 64 Harkness Road is running for one of two three-year terms as a library trustee. Nobody is seeking the other open seat.
Judith Eiseman of 88 Arnold Road is running unopposed for reelection to a five-year term on the Planning Board. Alexandra Dewey of 29 Buffam Road is running unopposed for a one-year seat on the Planning Board.
There are no candidates for town auditor or for a three-year seat on the Cemetery Commission.
Eric Goldscheider can be reached at eric.goldscheider@gmail.com.