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Select Board advances slate of 2026 warrant articles including drainage, social district and apparatus fund changes
Summary
The Select Board reviewed and agreed to advance multiple 2026 warrant articles — including social districts, zoning amendments, Beech Street drainage ($160,000), a $30,000 loan for wastewater asset management, and a proposal to repurpose the ambulance revolving fund to a vehicle replacement fund with higher annual contributions — and confirmed election filing and petition deadlines.
The Bristol Select Board reviewed draft Warrant Articles for the 2026 Town Meeting and agreed to advance a slate of measures for voter consideration, Town Administrator Christina Goodwin told the board on Jan. 8.
Goodwin summarized key items: Article X1 addresses election and ballot eligibility following a Budget Committee resignation; Articles X2 would authorize Social Districts within town limits; Articles X3–X11 contain proposed zoning amendments (including sign ordinance updates and provisions related to murals and public art); Article X12 is the operating budget (Select Board recommended figure pending final Budget Committee vote); Article X13 establishes the contingency fund; Article X15 would raise approximately $160,000 through taxation for the Beech Street Drainage Project; Article X16 would raise $30,000 for a loan with the NH Department of Environmental Services to complete the Wastewater Asset Management Plan (offset by a $30,000 grant); and Article X17 would repurpose the Fire Department Ambulance Revolving Fund into a vehicle replacement revolving fund and propose increasing annual contributions to better fund apparatus replacement needs.
Goodwin said several vendors contacted about the town fireworks show declined or had no available dates and the board agreed to place a fireworks funding article on the warrant with a non-appropriation clause so voters can decide whether to raise funds. On the ambulance fund, the board discussed an estimated $3 million in planned apparatus replacements over the next five years and asked Goodwin to confirm legal structure and limits with the Department of Revenue Administration and the town attorney before finalizing language.
Goodwin also reminded residents and potential petitioners about election and petition deadlines: candidate filing runs Jan. 21–Jan. 30, 2026 (by 5 p.m.) and petition warrant-article submissions require 25 voter signatures by Feb. 3, 2026; state law requires the designation of a primary petitioner who must present the article at Town Meeting or provide written authorization for a designee.
The Select Board confirmed several capital reserve funding adjustments recommended in preliminary budget discussions, including reducing the accrued wages allocation to $15,000, adjusting assessment revaluation funding, reducing the fire equipment CRF in anticipation of the ambulance fund change, raising the police vehicle CRF to $80,000, and increasing town building maintenance funding to $25,000. Goodwin said several figures remain estimates pending updated cost information and legal guidance where required.
The Board did not take final voter-level action at the meeting; the articles will appear on the warrant for Town Meeting and some items will require further legal or budget committee actions before final adoption.
