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The following links take you to the full text of each warrant article, including voting results, and a commentary to get you thinking.

• Article 1 – Choose Town Officers
• Article 2 – Adopt a Zoning Map
• Article 3 – Approve Town Budget
• Article 4 – Change Highway Garage Replacement Capital Reserve Fund
• Article 5 – Establish Solid Waste Vehicle Capital Reserve Fund
• Article 6 – Lease a 2012 Caterpillar 928Hz Wheel Loader
• Article 7 – Withdraw from the Concord Regional Solid Waste/Resource Recovery Cooperative
• Article 8 – Eliminate election of Sewer Commissioners
• Article 9 – Sewer Commissioners to be appointed by Selectmen

Article 1 – Choose Town Officers

To choose all necessary Town Officers for the ensuing year.

Commentary: This actually happens on Election Day.

Recommendation: Yes, go vote on March 13.

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Article 2 – Adopt a Zoning Map

Are you in favor of the adoption of Amendment No. 1 as proposed by the Allenstown Planning Board for the Town of Allenstown Zoning Ordinance as follows: To adopt a map entitled Town of Allenstown Zoning Map, dated March 13, 2012, as prepared by Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission as the Official Zoning Map of the Town of Allenstown. Adoption of the map will depict existing zones in town on one document, not result in the adoption of any new zones or rezoning of any properties.

The Planning Board supports this article.

Commentary: This sounds reasonable. But why is the new map dated in the future?

Recommendation: Yes

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Article 3 – Approve Town Budget

Shall the Town of Allenstown raise and appropriate as an operating budget, not including appropriations by special warrant articles and other appropriations voted separately, the amounts set forth on the budget posted with the warrant or as amended by vote of the first session, for the purposes set forth therein, totaling Five million four hundred thirty-nine thousand six hundred sixteen dollars ($5,439,616). Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall be five million five hundred eighteen thousand six hundred ninety-eight dollars ($5,502,698) which is the same as last year, with certain adjustments required by previous action of the Town of Allenstown or by law, or the governing body may hold one special meeting, in accordance with RSA 40:13 X and XVI, to take up the issue of a revised operations budget only.

NOTE: This warrant article (operating budget) does not include appropriations in ANY other warrant article.

The Select Board supports this article. The Budget Committee supports this Article.

Commentary: The proposed budget is $63,000 less than the default budget, which makes the default budget clearly the worse choice. This outcome was the result of a requirement from the Budget Committee for department heads to propose budgets at or below the default value.

Last year's budget was $5,268,871 so this year's budget is $170,000 more compared to last year, which is about a 3% increase. Maybe you should tell the Budget Committee and department heads to make the 2013 budget level-funded (no increase).

Recommendation: Yes

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Article 4 – Change Highway Garage Replacement Capital Reserve Fund

To see if the Town will vote to change the purpose of the Highway Garage Replacement Capital Reserve Fund, established by Article 24 of the 1993 Warrant, to the Highway Department Facilities Replacement or Maintenance Capital Reserve Fund such that monies in the Fund can be used either for the replacement of or the repair and maintenance of the existing Highway Garage and to appoint the Select Board as agents to expend.

A two-thirds vote is required for adoption of this article. RSA 35:16.

The Select Board supports this Article.

Commentary: This may be just to give the Highway Dept. some leeway to use some of the funds to fix immediate problems with the Highway Garage.

Recommendation: Yes

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Article 5 – Establish Solid Waste Vehicle Capital Reserve Fund

To see if the Town will vote to establish a Solid Waste Vehicle Capital Reserve Fund under the provisions of RSA 35:1 for the purpose of buying or leasing a garbage/recycling truck and related equipment, and to see if the Town will vote to appoint the Select Board as agents to expend from said Fund; and further, to see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00) to be placed in said Solid Waste Vehicle Capital Reserve Fund. This is a special warrant article.

The Select Board supports this Article. The Budget Committee supports this Article.

Commentary: We used to have some of these funds in the past. The idea is to set aside a small amount of tax revenue each year so we can pay cash for a packer or dump truck or other high cost vehicle when we need it rather than take out a more expensive lease or try to pay for it all at once (and add to the tax rate).

For example, our one and only packer for collecting and transporting trash is 11 years old.

Recommendation: Yes

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Article 6 – Lease a 2012 Caterpillar 928Hz Wheel Loader

To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Select Board to enter into a seven (7) year lease agreement for One Hundred Twenty-four Thousand Nine Hundred Fifty Dollars ($124,950.00) to lease a 2012 Caterpillar 928Hz Wheel Loader, which includes a 2.9 cubic yard bucket, and further, to raise and appropriate the first year’s lease payment of Nineteen Thousand Six Hundred Twenty-seven Dollars and Three Cents ($19,627.03). The lease agreement contains a non-appropriation (also known as an escape) clause.

The Select Board supports this Article. The Budget Committee supports this Article.

Commentary: At the public hearing on the budget back in January, Paul Apple circulated photos of little parts and ask people what they thought they were. The answer was that they were broken parts from the old loader after doing a transmission service a few days prior to the meeting.

Road Agent Ron Pellisier said that the loader is over 10 years old and has too many mechanical problems to be worth fixing. They need a new machine to load sand on the plow trucks and do several other heavy lifting tasks. He said they would use the trade-in value of the old loader to buy an extended warranty on the new one.

Recommendation: Yes

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Article 7 – Withdraw from the Concord Regional Solid Waste/Resource Recovery Cooperative

To see if the Town will withdraw from the Concord Regional Solid Waste/Resource Recovery Cooperative (the "COOP") upon the following terms: (1) the Town will cease to be a member of the COOP on December 31, 2014; (2) neither the Town nor the COOP will pay each other any money for amounts due or liabilities incurred by the Town or the COOP as a result of the membership of the Town in the COOP and the exercise by the Town of their rights to withdraw pursuant to the Cooperative Agreement; (3) the Town’s guaranteed minimum quantity of solid waste for 2012 shall be 1,300 tons; provided, that the Town shall be obligated to pay disposal fees and COOP fees for any amount of solid waste above the 1,300 tons; (4) the Town’s guaranteed minimum quantity for 2013 shall be the actual number of tons delivered in 2012 and the guaranteed minimum quantity for 2014 shall be the actual number of tons delivered in 2013.

A two-thirds vote is required for adoption of this article, pursuant to the Cooperative Agreement.

The Select Board supports this Article.

Commentary: We have been wasting money going to Wheelabrator in Boscawen for the past few years when Casella's is a short drive down River Road and it's cheaper. (Casella's is already paying us $5-10 per ton for recyclables.)

But the problem has been that the brilliant selectmen of decades ago signed a "forever contract" with the Coop and now the Coop's tipping fee ($66.80/ton) is more expensive than other trash management companies. The Coop is no longer fulfilling its original purpose: to help member towns save money on trash disposal.

With this agreement, the town will send only part of its tonnage to Wheelabrator for the next three years. We will be free of the contract by Dec. 31, 2014. The only disagreeable part is that we have to wait three years. Two years should have been a long enough transition period.

Recommendation: Yes!

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Article 8 – Eliminate election of Sewer Commissioners

To see if the Town will vote to repeal Article 6 of the 1972 Warrant, approved by the Town on March 11, 1972, establishing a Board of Sewer Commissioners elected by ballot.

The Select Board takes no position on this Article.

Commentary: Re-read the story about the outrageous sewer cost overruns of 2009 and 2010, a fiasco mismanaged by the current sewer commissioners. (The link to the Hooksett Banner story of 1/12/11 no longer works.)

Recommendation: Yes

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Article 9 – Sewer Commissioners to be appointed by Selectmen

To see, in the event that Article 8 shall be adopted, if the Town will vote to establish instead a Board of Sewer Commissioners, pursuant to RSA 149-I, consisting of three members, which Board shall perform all of the duties and possess all of the powers conferred on Sewer Commissioners by New Hampshire law, to be appointed by the Select Board, each for three (3) year terms.

The Select Board takes no position on this Article.

Commentary: Last year, many unwise voters apparently re-elected one of the cost overrun commissioners. How could that be? Ignorance? Cronyism? Not in Allenstown!

It will be an interesting experiment to see if the Selectmen can pick better commissioners than the voters.

Recommendation: Yes

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2012 Election Links