The New Ipswich Fire Department will be making a second try at creating a combined position that will include a firefighter, code enforcement officer and building inspector position, after a similar article failed narrowly last year.

The article was amended during Tuesday night’s deliberative session, held in the Mascenic Regional High School auditorium.

The previous article called for a fire chief to be part of the position, while this year’s article asks for a “fire officer.” Fire Chief Ben Hatcher explained that the officer would likely be of captain rank, and would be able to address the administrative work on the department along with being ready to respond to active calls. Hatcher said staffing volunteer departments during the day is increasingly difficult, citing a recent house fire when the Rindge department was only able to respond with two firefighters. And need for firefighters is only going up, Hatcher said – the department responded to 38% more calls this year than the previous.

Hatcher moved to amend the article during the deliberative session, reducing the requested amount for half a year’s salary and benefits from $63,500 to $60,500. He said the adjustment was based on the increases already in the budget, and the amount would still allow the department to be competitive while saving at least some funds. He said of the $121,000 cost for the total year of the position, about $82,000 would be for salary, and the remainder in benefits.

The amendment passed with a voice vote. After the amendment passed, the Select Board retook their vote on whether to recommend the article, and the vote went from 2-1 to unanimous in support.

Highway Department vehicles in need of repair

There were several articles related to the Highway Department, including the annual road articles. The town has always requested funding for road reconstruction in two articles, so that should one fail, and the other pass, at least some roadwork might be completed. This year, the articles ask for $350,000 and $250,000.

Road Agent Peter Somero said the intent for the funds in the coming year is work on Wilson Hill Road, Old Beaver Road and the reconstruction of Old Wilton Road.

Resident Jamie Kizner moved to amend the first article to reduce it by $100,000. He said that he was looking for places to reduce the budget or warrant articles that wouldn’t completely derail the town, and also to possibly increase a later request for funds for the Highway Department vehicles. However, the amendment did not gain a second, and did not move forward.

Somero gave a short slideshow presentation on the state of the department’s fleet, which he said has four vehicles in need of repair, two of which needed to go into the shop for work after breaking down in a storm the past weekend. He said the oldest plow the town has is 13 years old, when ideally they would be retired at eight to 10 years.

“Some have had issues since I started at the department eight years ago,” Peter Somero said.

The department, in a separate article, is requesting $50,000 to replace one of its pickup trucks and plow attachment. The funds would replace a Ford 2012 pickup.

The Highway Department Capital Reserve Fund is part of a larger article requesting funds for various capital reserve and expendable trusts. The Highway Department is requesting $95,000, as is the Fire Department for its capital reserve, the largest requests on the list. The total requests for capital reserves and trusts is $391,000.

Selectman Shawn Talbot warned the crowd that as the Highway Department’s vehicles approach their end of life, the town is likely to increase the ask for the Highway Department as soon as next year.

Multiple petition articles

There are three petition articles on the warrant this year, including a proposed conflict of interest ordinance, which is specifically aimed at members of boards involved in lawsuits with the town or its boards. The ordinance would be adopted with the authority of RSA 31:39-a, which allows towns to create bylaws that provide “care, protection, preservation and use of the public cemeteries, parks, commons, libraries and other public institutions of the town.”

The ordinance would make it a conflict of interest for a person to be a party to a lawsuit against the town or one of its boards, committees or commissions while holding a position on any town board until the suit is resolved. It would include a provision allowing anyone currently in a position on a board one year to resolve the suit.

Richard Craig Smeeth, a member of the Planning Board who is currently involved in a suit against decisions made by the planning and zoning boards regarding Silver Scone Teas, asked if there was a “specific instance” driving the petition. He said as a member of a board, if there was something that came before the board that involved a conflict of interest, he recused himself.

“Why is that not sufficient?” Smeeth asked.

The submitter of the petition did not speak to it during the deliberative session.

Other petition articles included designating Willard Road as a scenic road, which means approval from a town body must be granted before significant cutting or removal of stone walls can be done. Willard Road resident Meredith Lund spoke to the article, clarifying that dangerous or nuisance trees, or ones downed by storms, are able to be removed without that process. An amendment was made to the article to specify that the approval could come from the Planning Board or another town-identified body, as typically the Conservation Commission has taken that role in the past.

The final petition article is for $102,295 for a large playground set for Memorial Field. The article was not recommended by the Select Board in a 2-1 vote, with Talbot saying that there was not enough information or a firm bid, and that the request had been above the amount anticipated to be needed for possible price inflations due to tariffs. He said he would not object to including a new playground set in the capital improvement plan and saving for a few years for it.

Voting on all articles is scheduled for March 11 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Mascenic Regional High School gym.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.