Warner voters require public hearings before spending Highway Road Construction fund

Warner voters on March 8 approved Article 9, adding $225,000 to the town’s Highway Road Construction Capital Reserve Fund and adopting an amendment that requires a public hearing before any of those funds may be spent.

The article as written proposed $225,000 for the Highway Road Construction Capital Reserve Fund, with $100,000 to come from the General Fund balance and $125,000 to be raised by taxation. Edward Mical moved to amend the article to require the Board of Selectmen to hold a duly noticed public hearing prior to any expenditure from the fund and to include an accounting of all funds expended in the next year’s Town Report; the motion was seconded and, after a motion to move the question, the amendment passed by voice vote. The amended article then passed by voice vote.

The amendment states the public-hearing requirement and reporting provision "shall remain in force until rescinded by the legislative body." Town officials recorded the procedural steps in the meeting minutes; the voice votes were announced as the method for both the amendment and the final article vote. No recorded roll-call tallies for the amendment or the final article vote are provided in the transcript.

The action will increase the Highway Road Construction Capital Reserve Fund by $225,000; the selectmen will be the authorized agent to expend as specified in related warrant language for other articles naming the Board of Selectmen as agents. The amendment adds a public-notice and reporting layer intended to increase transparency for future expenditures from that fund.

Next steps: the amendment becomes part of the warrant language and remains effective until rescinded by a subsequent legislative action of the town.