Budget committee votes not to recommend $5,000 Libby Museum petition warrant article

The Wolfeboro Budget Committee voted to not recommend a petition warrant article that would add $5,000 to the Libby Museum capital reserve fund, citing problems with the article’s drafting and questions about whether parts of it were within the town’s authority.

Suzanne Ryan, a sponsor of the petition, told the committee the request was meant to “test the waters” and to give citizens “one last chance” to show whether they want to try to save the museum. “It’s not all about a building,” Ryan said, “it’s about saving a museum that’s an asset to the town.”

Committee discussion centered on advice from legal counsel — relayed in the meeting by Jim — that the petition appears to attempt several distinct actions in one article and includes language that could conflict with charitable-trust and probate law. “This article appears to be trying to do three, maybe possibly four different things, which are not logically connected, and therefore, likely to create confusion amongst voters,” Jim said, summarizing counsel’s view and explaining why portions might not be legally effective.

Members also discussed practical effects: Jim said the Libby capital reserve account holds roughly $200,000 after recent expenditures, and that significant additional funds — on the order of millions — would be required to fully restore the existing building and to create an endowment and museum operations (estimates discussed in the meeting put major building repair at roughly $5 million and an endowment need in the low millions).

Several members stressed that a "not recommend" vote does not prevent the petition from proceeding to the town deliberative session, where petitioners may offer amendments at the podium. Jim and others noted that if the article is revised into a legally permissible form — for example by narrowing the purpose to a capital-reserve change — the committee could revisit or voters could accept an amended version at deliberative session.

The committee conducted a roll-call-style vote on the motion to not recommend the current Libby/Libby Museum petition warrant article; the motion carried. (The motion was moved from the floor and seconded during the meeting; the transcript did not record a formal named second in the audio for the motion to not recommend.)

The committee’s decision leaves the petition on the warrant packet distributed to voters with the budget committee’s recommendation marked as "not recommend." Petition sponsors said they plan to seek opportunities at the deliberative session to amend the article and to explain its intent to voters.

The meeting continued afterward with staff presenting the committee’s planned slide and narrative materials for the full budget presentation and with discussion of who will present at the deliberative session.