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Budget board ordinance could reverse election vote

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Selectmen Chair Christine Torno looks at flowers left by a well-wisher on her first day on the Board of Selectmen as fellow board members Royce Heath, left, and Paul Nadeau look on. (The Lebanon Voice)

LEBANON - One of the first issues faced by the new Board of Selectmen on Thursday was whether the passing of the Budget Committee Ordinance on Tuesday may nullify the election of two residents to the board.

The ordinance calls for just a nine-member panel, and while board members wanted to check with the election clerk before making any firm decisions, consensus seemed to be that some resident, or residents who won a seat may not be able to serve their term per ordinance.

All selectmen agreed that if that's the case, those with the higher vote totals would be admitted to the board first to fill any vacancies.

On Tuesday's ballot voters were asked to pick three candidates, with the vote totals showing 519 for Rebecca Beal, 437 for Corinna Cole and 398 for Deborah Wilson.

When candidates took out the nomination papers the board comprised a dozen members.

Board members also agreed that since the people had approved the referendum there was little wiggle room to add back members and that the enforcement of the ordinance would have to be immediate.

While the budget board snafu was one of many tough issues selectmen discussed there was also time to welcome Christine Torno, the board's newest selectmen.

Torno, who worked 15 years at Lebanon Town Offices as a tax collector and deputy clerk, said coming into the selectmen's office as its newest member showed it's "a brand new ballgame."

"It feels good," she said while looking at flowers and cookies on the selectmen's table left by well-wishers. "I'll do the best I can."

The first order of business was to pick a new chairman, and Torno was picked after an anonymous, written vote using slips of paper in which Selectman Royce Heath, now in his third year, got one vote while Torno received two.

Also passed early on in the meeting was a resolution to have the selectmen's secretary begin taking meeting minutes again. In the recent past, former selectmen chair Ben Thompson had done the minutes.

The board then discussed how soon they could get in the department heads whose budgets had been rejected by voters on Tuesday, including codes enforcement, Fire and EMS and the transfer station.

It was decided to try to get the CEO and transfer station manager Ronal Patch in Monday as it is thought their budgets will be the easiest to modify for possible passage, while discussions with Fire and EMS Chief Dan Meehan will take a whole night, they agreed.

Almost 64 percent of Lebanon voters on Tuesday rejected the $451,000 Fire and EMS budget, which included a full-time fire chief at $900 a week plus benefits.

During a public comment session, Resident Tony Bragg implored selectmen not to try to hide any full-time chief's position in the budget but be open with residents.

"Don't try to hide the chief's salary, don't do it," Bragg said.

The CEO position, which also transformed to full time, will also be under the gun to trim expenses, including the possible reversion to part time. The CEO budget was rejected by voters on Tuesday, 590-375, or by 61 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, the transfer station budget was voted down by just eight votes, 482-474.

Selectmen also briefly discussed having transfer station stickers issued at the transfer station and scheduling mandatory monthly meetings with department heads.

Those monthly meetings are expected to begin next Thursday.

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