Town Meeting Wrap Up

The citizens of Haverhill, New Hampshire gathered for just under an hour to discuss the fifteen articles on their town warrant. As the clock struck seven thirty, the meeting began as around one hundred people filed into the middle school gymnasium. Articles 1, 2, and 3 all dealt with electing officials for 2010, with no discussions by the towns people. In fact, the first ten articles of the night passed unanimously...with not a single nay coming from the audience, and most of the articles being proposed and carried by the same two citizens.

Article 4 was to hear the reports of various town government committees, which were outlined in the town report given out at the door. It was motioned that the verbal reports be skipped, as they were in writing in the report and could be looked at if so desired. Article 5 was dealt with in a similar fashion.

Taxes were the topic of Article 6, the first article of the night to have any sort of discussion. Passing the article would raise the towns operating budget to $3,113,395. When asked how the budget would affect taxes in the town, the Moderator informed the citizens that the rate would actually be five cents less than 2009. The article was met with unanimous ayes. The town also voted to raise and appropriate $20,000 to the Vehicle Capital Reserve Fund, $16,500 to use Newbury, Vermont's recycling services, and $2,000 each for the reserve funds of Parks and Recreation and the Municipal Building.

The issue of whether or not to pave Business Park Road in Haverhill was the first Article to have any spoken opposition. According to Select Board members, the business park was completed in 2002, and the road is made of gravel. Town Manager Glenn English believes that if the road were to be paved, it would be much more attractive for potential land buyers. The cost of the project would be $130,000, with $104,000 coming from a grant and $26,000 coming from the town. The town would have to put up the initial $130,000, and the $104,000 would be refunded if/when the grant went through. If the town is unable to secure a grant, the road will not be paved. After some discussion the article was passed.

Articles 12 and 13 were passed unanimously...giving $5,894 to the White Mountain Mental Health Association, and a donation of $480 to support the Rivers Reach Regional Resource Center. Both organizations help troubled Haverhill area citizens with outreach programs, and were met with mostly positive responses.

Finally, the biggest issue of the night was one that was added by petition, and dealt with one of the most controversial issues in modern society: gay marriage. Article 14 read "To see if the Town will vote to approve the following resolution to be forwarded to our State Representative(s), our State Senator, the Speaker of the House, and the Senate President. Resolved: The citizens of New Hampshire should be allowed to vote on an amendment to the New Hampshire Constitution that defines "marriage". The article was met by confusion amongst the crowd, with several people asking questions, ranging from how the article got on the ballot to what exactly it meant. The article was added by petition, meaning at least twenty five voters wanted to get it on the warrant. As petitioner and Select Board member Wayne Fortier explained, the article was meant to let New Hampshire Legislature know that citizens would like to vote on what the definition of "marriage" should be in New Hampshire. The definition was changed at the beginning of 2010 from "a man and a woman" to "any two persons". The move did away with civil unions, giving gay couples the same rights as married straight couples. The verbal vote was unclear, so a stand up vote was taken. The article passed 50-45. Some opponents to the article believed that the system worked fine the way it is...with citizens being able to testify before judiciary committees, but not actually vote. As one town official who wished to remain anonymous explained "I believe if civil rights for colored people were put to popular vote in the sixties, we'd still be segregated today."

For more on this story please click the link below, and then choose the WEDNESDAY MARCH 10th 2010 newscast. Then, hit "Haverhill Town Meeting" from the dropdown menu.

http://lyndonstate.edu/news7/archive.htm