NEW SHARON — The annual town meeting will be held on Saturday, March 2 at 9 a.m. in the Cape Cod Hill School gymnasium. Voters will consider 54 articles and a proposed $1,363,026 budget. If approved, the proposed budget will be offset by $280,095 in carry overs, town reserve fund and unappropriated surplus accounts, and federal and state reimbursements.

The $1,082,931 voters will be asked to raise through taxation for 2019 is $176,915 more than last year. The increase is attributed to an article asking voter input on replacing the roof on the town office building.

A trio of articles seeks funding to update the town office building to include a fire station. The first asks voters if they are in favor of expending up to $22,000 from the Fire Station Building Reserve Fund to conduct structural testing on the town office building. They will also be asked to expend up to $115,000 from the same fund for designing and planning work to update the current town office building to include a new fire station. The third article asks voters to raise and appropriate $240,000 to replace the roof on the town office building.

If the first of these does not pass, the remaining articles must be passed over.

Citizens will also weigh in on spending $25,000 to purchase a 6.3-acre parcel of land, currently owned by the New Sharon Water District. The lot contains two ball fields and is currently used by the New Sharon Water District. If the article is approved, the purchase will be made with funds in the recreation field reserve account and dump closing fund balance. There will be no taxation request to residents for the proposed purchase.

Elections for a Board of Selectman seat will be held Friday, March 1 from noon to 7 p.m. at the Town Office, 11 School Lane. Selectman Boal Neal is not seeking re-election.

dmenear@thefranklinjournal.com