Littleton Bond Budget Hearing

Littleton 2018 Warrant articles reviewed.

Littleton High School hosted the Town of Littleton’s warrant article review on Tuesday night. In addition to the review, the meeting also included three public hearings; one on the Transportation Improvement Fund, another on the Mill Street Sewer Bond, and a third on the Foster Hill Road repairs.

Andrea Day from the Dufresne Group of St. Johnsbury presented information about the proposed sewer project to take place under mill Street should Article 2 pass. Improvements to the system will help eliminate the infiltration and inflow into sub area five. The reduction in inflow and infiltration will reduce the load on the sewer system as a whole. All excess rain water and run off will be diverted away from the treatment facility.

The Dufresne Group shared images of manholes on Mill Street that were made of brick and block. These allowed infiltration and waste water to enter the sewer system. This excessive load of rain water and run off impacts the treatment facility causing back ups at the facility. The projected project budget is just over 2.3 million dollars

Video footage of the Bond & Budget hearing from January 16th, 2018 is available for streaming here. The embedded video file is at the end of this article.

Public Hearing Article language

The public hearings for Article 2, Article 3, and Article 12 focused on the following language (as drafted and presented at the meeting):

Article 2: Mill Street Sewer Bond

To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $340,000 (Three Hundred Forty Thousand Dollars) for the purpose of Repair and Replacement of Sewer Lines within the existing wastewater collection system, and any other costs related thereto and to authorize the issuance of not more than $340,000 of bonds or notes in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Finance Act (RSA 33) and to authorize the Selectmen to apply for, obtain and accept Federal, State or other aid, if any, which may be available for said project.  WITH THE AMOUNT OF SUCH BONDS OR NOTES TO BE REDUCED BY ANY GRANT FUNDING RECEIVED FOR THE PROJECT, and to further authorize the Selectmen to take any other action or to pass any other vote relative thereto.  (3/5 Ballot Vote Required). Non-Lapsing until 2019.

No Tax Impact in 2018.
Recommended by Selectmen 0-0.  Recommended by the Budget Committee 7-0.

Article 3: Foster Hill Road Repair Bond

To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Dollars) for the purpose of Repair, Replacement of Paving on Foster Hill Road, and any other costs related thereto, to bring the road up to Town Standards, and to authorize the issuance of not more than $500,000 of bonds or notes in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Finance Act (RSA 33) and to authorize the Selectmen to apply for, obtain and accept Federal, State or other aid, if any, which may be available for said project.  WITH THE AMOUNT OF SUCH BONDS OR NOTES TO BE REDUCED BY ANY GRANT FUNDING RECEIVED FOR THE PROJECT, and to further authorize the Selectmen to take any other action or to pass any other vote relative thereto.

(3/5 Ballot Vote Required).  Non-Lapsing until 2019.  No Tax Impact in 2018.
Recommended by Selectmen 0-0.  Not Recommended by the Budget Committee 2-5.

Article 12: Transportation Improvement Fund

To see if the Town will vote to collect an additional vehicle registration fee of $5.00 (Five Dollars) for the purpose of supporting a Municipal Transportation Improvement Fund, which shall be a capital reserve fund established for this purpose and governed by the provisions of RSA 35. Of the amount collected, $0.50 of each fee paid shall be retained by the Town for administrative costs. The remaining amount shall be deposited into the Municipal Transportation Improvement Fund established to allow a community to fund, wholly or in part, improvements in the local or regional transportation system including roads, bridges, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, parking and intermodal facilities, electric vehicle charging stations, and public transportation.

The funds may be used for engineering, right-of-way acquisition, and construction costs of transportation facilities, including electric vehicle charging stations, and for operating and capital costs of public transportation only. The funds may be used as matching funds for State or Federal funds allocated for local or regional transportation improvements. Such funds shall not be used to offset any other non-transportation appropriations made by the municipality.  The additional fee shall be collected from all vehicles, both passenger and commercial, with the exception of all-terrain vehicles as defined in RSA 215-A:1, I-b and antique motor vehicles or motorcycles, as defined in RSA 259:4.

Estimated Tax Impact -$0.005 Per Thousand.
Recommended by Selectmen 0-0. Recommended by Budget Committee 0-0.