The lights in the Greenfield Meeting House dimmed and flickered as former Selectman Bob Marshall stood to speak, drawing a murmur from the 60 or so gathered townspeople, most of whom had experienced a power outage at their own houses during the past week. 

“It’s a sign, Bob!” said Jack Moran, who’d called for a clarification on warrant article No. 7, which sought to create a trust fund for electricity generation in the case of an emergency.

While some tax-weary citizens found plenty of items on the warrant on which to shine a spotlight Saturday morning, the voters ultimately powered through the town’s budget and 19 other warrant articles totaling $3.3 million, a budget that Select Board Chair Mason Parker said reflected the board’s realistic approach to financial planning.

“We’re trying to present to you budgets that reflect the actual cost of running the town,” Parker said, rather than finding the bare minimum and cutting it down even further. 

The total spending is up about 14.6 percent from last year, which Parker attributed to previous neglect of capital reserve funds and the past year’s turbulent economic climate. 

“We weren’t really saving where we ought to be, and high, high inflation,” Parker said.

Each warrant article passed with varying levels of scrutiny; an attempt to amend the budget and cut about $148,000 was killed by vote after the board and Treasurer Katherine Heck explained the lengths they’d gone to in order to curate the budget, and the variety of opportunities prior to Town Meeting during which residents could help shape the final numbers, such as budget advisory meetings. 

Several residents went out of their way to thank the town’s Department of Public Works for their efforts cleaning up after the substantial snowstorm, which postponed the town and school ballot voting to March 28, and voters passed the DPW’s $664,258 budget with little debate. 

“You couldn’t have timed that snowstorm any better,” joked Moderator-for-the-day William Nichols. 

The upcoming tax status of nonprofit Crotched Mountain School is still unknown as the property changes hands from Legacy By Gersh to the Seven Hills Foundation, and the town took steps to prepare for negotiations on that front by adopting article No. 18, establishing a $30,000 trust fund for anticipated “extraordinary legal fees.”

Townspeople also voted to increase the optional veterans’ tax credit – now expanded to include active-duty servicepeople – from $300 to $750, and they approved the Select Board’s proposal to take control of the fire chief’s salary and benefits, which had previously been capped and controlled by Town Meeting vote.

In fact, voters approved everything but Articles 1, 1a and 1b and Zoning Amendment 1. Normally, those would have been taken care of pre-Town Meeting at ballot voting, but this year, the election of town officers and ConVal school articles will take place post-Town Meeting, with voting now set for Tuesday, March 28 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Meeting House. 

]]>