Keno gets the green light at Greenville Town Meeting

By BILL FONDA

Monadnock Ledger-Transcript

Published: 03-20-2023 3:54 PM

Selectman Douglas Reardon said American Legion Post 13 brought a petition article seeking Keno games in Greenville to Saturday’s Town Meeting at the Mascenic Education Center as a way to raise money.

“It’s greatly needed there to put people in seats,” he said. “It would be a shame to see us lose a post in this town.”

Keno is a game in which players can choose up to 12 numbers from a field of 80, and 20 winning numbers are randomly chosen every five minutes. Individual towns must agree to allow Keno, and after having rejected it in 2019, Town Meeting approved it by a 27-17 ballot vote.

All 20 articles passed, including a budget of approximately $2.61 million, up from the current $2.4 million budget and the $2.59 budget brought to Town Meeting. An amendment increased the financial administration line from $60,400 to $73,696, which Town Administrator Tara Sousa attributed to an error in which she only included costs for this year’s reassessment, but not annual assessing work.

The other amendment was an increase in the solid waste budget from $105,102 to $110,968, which Sousa said is because Wilton selectmen elected to use less fund balance in the Wilton Recycling Center budget, meaning the other four towns which use it – Greenville, Lyndeborough, Mason and Temple – were charged more.

In spending articles that use other funds and therefore won’t affect taxation, Town Meeting passed $494,947 for the Wastewater Department, $362,135 for the Water Department and a total of $30,000 for the Green Bridge Improvement and Public Works Equipment capital reserve funds.

Also approved were a total of $40,000 for pool repair and maintenance, fire equipment and a police cruiser. Responding to a question from resident Rick Miller, Sousa work at the pool is expected to be done this spring.

“We’re looking forward to a well-running and beautiful pool come summertime,” she said.

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Articles seeking $20,000 and $10,000 for Wastewater Department and Water Department expendable trust funds, respectively, were approved, along with $43,800 for reconstructing, repairing and paving town roads.

Town Meeting agreed to spend $30,000 to start a fund for improving and maintaining town roads, along with $26,000 to buy three air packs and six air cylinders for the Fire Department. A $40,000 article to convert town streetlights to LED drew several comments and questions, including resident Peter Simonson saying they shouldn’t be any brighter than they are now.

“When I moved here 40 years ago, I could see the Milky Way at night,” he said.

Also approved were $60,000 for building security and cybersecurity improvements at town buildings and facilities, as well as $50,000 to repair and improve the exterior of Town Hall. Veterans’ tax credits will increase from $500 to $750. The elderly tax exemption will be up to $40,000 for those 65 and older, $60,000 for people 75 and older and $80,000 for those 80 and older, with income limits of $20,000 for single people and $27,000 for married couples and assets less than $50,000, not including their house.

Town Meeting also agreed to accept a portion of Blanch Farm Road as a town road and eliminate the elected fire ward position.

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