Select Board opponents Tyler Ward and Andrew Osterman were set up next to each other outside of the polls all day Tuesday greeting and talking with voters as they walked into the Peterborough Community Center during the town election.

“I think people want to be heard,” said Ward, who added that speaking with supporters and non-supporters at the polls had been a “great opportunity to listen.”

Ward held his Select Board seat with 736 votes, compared to 142 for Osterman. In the other contested race, Gary Gorski and Lisa Stone won the two Planning Bord seats with 545 and 522 votes, respectively. Gorski was previously an alternate on the board and Stone kept her seat. Incumbent Andrew Dunbar garnered 414 votes. 

At the polls Gorski said, “More affordable housing in walkable locations and better protection for open space” were important issues for him to address as a member of the Planning Board. 

The $14.8 million budget passed 721-141. Members of the Budget Committee took turns handing out informational sheets outside of the polls addressing information written on a flyer Osterman had mailed to voters at the end of last week that included a reference to him voting against a 27 percent town tax increase in this year’s budget. 

The sheet explained that the Select Board recommended a budget with a $1.2 million increased expenditure, 88 percent of which was due to higher personnel costs and 6 percent to increased energy costs. The sheet also stated that no one has voted on the tax rate, which won’t be decided until the fall. The rate is affected by expenditures approved at Town Meeting, revenue from sources other than taxation, transfer from the fund balance, Peterborough’s portion of the school budget and Peterborough’s portion of the county budget. 

Peterborough Renewable Energy Planning (PREP) Team co-coordinator Bob Haring-Smith was passing out information about BlocPower, a climate-technology company focused on making aging buildings greener, including weatherizing, installing heat pumps and heat pump water heaters, adding solar and some electric appliances. The Select Board accepted a $5,000 donation from the PREP team in February to sign a contract to electrify 10 to 15 buildings by June of 2024. 

“Seeing the budget pass would be a huge plus from our point of view,” said Haring-Smith, as it would allow the town to look into hiring an energy coordinator/planning assistant.

All additional articles as well as all zoning amendments passed, including a total of $764,700 to the following capital reserve and expendable trust funds: GIS Capital Reserve Fund, Police Department Fleet management Capital Reserve Fund, Fire Department Apparatus and Equipment Capital Reserve Fund, Winter Operations Expendable Trust Fund, Fleet Management Capital Reserve Fund, Recreation Department Capital Reserve fund and Adams Pool Improvement Capital Reserve Fund.

Also approved were $400,000 to the Roadway System Upgrades Capital Reserve Fund, adding 19 parcels of land to the South Peterborough Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District and awarding the town clerk a $8,297 cost-of-living adjustment and merit-based salary increase.

Residents voted to rezone three lots on Elm Street, Bowling Acres, Valley Automotive and the old IDG building to be entirely in the Village Commercial District. They were previously legal nonconforming – zoned in the Family District with the first 200 feet zoned as commercial. This amendment will allow the property owners to have more flexibility in terms of developing or expanding their lots while keeping a vegetated buffer between residential properties.

A zoning amendment passed that will allow a multifamily workforce housing development to include more than one building on one lot in the rural district, which was previously not permitted.

Manufactured housing parks, which are only permitted in the Rural District, will now be able to provide water and sewer to residents if they are not able to connect to town water and sewer, which is largely unavailable in the Rural District.

Voters also approved a petition zoning amendment put forward by owner of South Pack Solar, Greg Blake, which will remove screening requirements for single-family and duplex homes that want to install a freestanding solar array and will no longer require single-family and duplex freestanding arrays to be placed 100 feet from the front property line. 

The following candidates were unopposed: Carl Mabbs-Zeno, Mary Clark and Richard Reynells for Budget Committee, Christopher J. DiLoreto and Daniel Latini for Zoning Board of Adjustment, Kate Coon and Devon Tomasulo on the Recreation Commission, Margaret “Peggy” VanValkenburgh and Christine Mann for library trustee, John A. Nieskens for trustee of the trust funds and Peter LaRoche for cemetery trustee.

Turnout was 893 out of 5,062 registered voters, or 17.6 percent.

What was important to voters?

Exiting the polls, voters reported that housing, the budget and the contested races were important issues for them this election.

“What’s important for me is we do everything we can to support housing,” said Bonnie Tucker. She’s a member of the Affordable Housing Committee and said, “We have close to 200 unfilled positions and we don’t have places for them to live.” 

Resident Shelley Goguen Hulbert expressed concerns about the budget.

“I think the Planning Board and Budget Committee do a great job putting in a lot of hard work, but then again the budget is a concern,” she said, adding she also thinks it’s important to have a balance of older and younger people on town boards. 

Tim Daisy said the Select Board race was a primary concern.

“Two very different candidates,” he said, adding he believes the budget is fair and he thinks the town has kept it at a bare minimum. 

Molly Mansfield said she’s newly moved back to Peterborough, and efforts toward affordable housing are important for the town.

“I was glad to see money going to things needed with the changing economy,” Mansfield said.

Jason Reimers said, “Honestly, none of it was earth-shattering.” He believed the zoning amendments  were important and said, “And I love to vote.”

Open session is Wednesday

The open session of Town Meeting is Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Upper Hall of the Town House. It includes three petition articles, all of which were put forward by Andrew Osterman.

Voters will decide whether to appropriate $201,000 from the Pedestrian Enhancement Fund to construct an ADA-accessible path from the Evans Road loop to Shaw’s. The Select Board voted 3-0 not to recommend the article, and the Budget Committee did likewise by a 7-1 vote.

The second article proposes that if the average age of current members of a town commission, committee or board is over 65, the Select Board should only appoint residents younger than 65 to vacant seats, positions or roles. The Select Board did not recommend the article by a 3-0 vote.

The third article proposes that no Town Meeting, board meeting, commission meeting or committee meeting should take place between 5 and 8 p.m. The Select Board voted not to recommend the article by a 3-0 vote.

The budget is also on the warrant for the open session, but the article will be passed over because it was approved at the polls Tuesday.

See this website for results.

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