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Select Board schedules special meeting after warrant omission to authorize reserve spending
Summary
After discovering an article was omitted from the printed ballot, the Rangeley Select Board scheduled a special town meeting for Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. to authorize select‑board expenditure of capital reserve funds and to ratify purchases already made; the motion passed unanimously.
The Rangeley Select Board set a special town meeting for Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. at the school to correct a ballot omission and to ask voters to authorize the select board to expend capital reserve funds. The action followed staff reports that invoices tied to a reserve account were due and that the relevant article had not been printed on the warrant though it was on the original warrant materials.
Board members debated whether to postpone until the regular June town meeting to allow more public participation. Several members, including Chris and Adam, argued special meetings are overused and reduce public trust; others said immediate action was necessary because invoices must be paid and purchases already occurred. The board ultimately approved a motion (alternative wording read into the record by staff) that would both authorize reserve expenditures for their intended purposes and ratify expenditures already made in the 2025–26 fiscal year.
The motion to set the special town meeting with the alternate article language was moved, seconded, and approved unanimously. Staff said the alternative wording is intended to cover both forward-looking authority and ratification for items already purchased that were not printed on the ballot. The board also discussed logistics for the meeting (location and time) and whether the moderator from the last open meeting should be rehired.
Public-commenters and several board members urged clearer language in future warrant articles to avoid ambiguity about what each reserve account may be used for. One resident warned voters may expect highway reserves to fund trucks and plows only, not design work for roads, and urged greater specificity in reserve‑spending articles.
Staff will prepare the warrant language for the special meeting and a separate public hearing on the article; the board directed staff to include wording to permit ratification of purchases that have already been made if that is what the materials require.
