Moving through the fog from the barbeque on the church lawn to the municipal building, residents of the town of Frenchboro gathered for their annual town meeting on June 23. The meeting was called to order by the current Select Board at 4:05 p.m. and concluded by 6:00.
The meeting opened with elections of town officials and board members. Rachel Bishop was elected as moderator, a position she has held for many past meetings. Current selectman Rob Stuart was nominated and elected for another two-year term and, after a period of deliberation, Jay DesJardin was also nominated and elected, taking the place of Pat McEachron who declined nomination this year. They join Davy Lunt, Arthur Fernald, and Bob Roxby on the board. Rebecca Lenfestey was re-elected as town clerk, and Rachel Bishop was elected to the position of treasurer, as well as tax collector, taking over for Alan Davis who has served dutifully and thoroughly the past three years. Other municipal positions, including harbormaster and fire chief, were filled by community members who have held similar positions in the past. On the school board, Tammy DesJardin was nominated and elected for a three-year term, joining Marissa Rozenski and Becky Lenfestey, who was elected for a year’s term.
Frenchboro voters approved the whole of the municipal budget, which included all administrative salaries and expenses. They finally voted to accept the budgeted items, which were $12,550 for salaries and $28,250 for expenses. Other articles were discussed item-by-item. Alan Davis suggested $5,877 of shortfall from 2007 be moved from the Town Floats and Ramps Reserve Account to the Town Dock Operational Account in order to pay outstanding bills for work done on the wharf. This was accepted by voters, as was a suggestion to move $10,000 from the Town Dock Operational Account to the Town Floats and Ramps Reserve Account, making the total recommended budget $65,850 for Public Works Accounts.
The Frenchboro School budget for 2008-09, including $750 for the preschool and $164,367 for the K-12 school, passed with no opposition. School Union 98 superintendent Rob Liebow, attending the meeting with administrator Nancy Thurlow, also took the time to discuss future plans for the school. The plan as of now, Liebow explained, was that the Frenchboro School was being considered as an AOS (Alternative Organizational Structure, which means it is a “regional school unit and still requires communities to function as a single school system that reports a single budget to the Department of Education, receives a single subsidy check, and has a common core curriculum and procedures for standardized testing and assessment.” This allows the school to act independently of the state consolidation plan, but adheres to much of the current protocol. The vote on the plan is planned for November.