MONTGOMERY — Voters in Montgomery will decide on 17 warrant articles at the Annual Town Meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, May 20, in Town Hall.
The majority of articles ask voters to approve the town budget for fiscal year 2025, with the exception of Article 1, which is a vote to allow the town to raise and appropriate a sum necessary to defray town charges for the FY24 budget.
Article 2 asks voters to appropriate $392,540 to cover the salaries, compensation and expenses of town officers, departments, boards and committees.
Article 3 is approval of the sum of $92,100 to cover facilities and property maintenance expenses, including $30,000 for utilities, $15,000 for building maintenance, $3,100 for custodian wages, $39,000 for town insurance for buildings and vehicles, $2,000 for the town well and $3,000 for cemetery expenses.
Article 4 asks voters to approve $253,152 for the Highway Department budget, including $2,000 for administration and expenses, $118,057 for wages, $61,595 for roads and bridges, $36,000 for winter work, $20,500 for maintenance and repair and $15,000 for fuel and lube expenses.
Article 5 is approval of $100,100 to cover public safety budgets: $40,000 for the Fire Department, $60,000 for the Police Department, and $100 for the Emergency Management Department.
Article 6 asks to deposit $7,000 in the reserve fund to be controlled by the town’s Finance Committee, to be used only to cover extraordinary or unforeseen expenditures of other town departments.
Article 7 asks voters to allow the town to spend $41,113 on the contract with Hilltown Ambulance.
Article 8 asks for $2,446 for Montgomery’s share of the Ambulance Replacement Fund.
Article 9 is approval of $1,159,915 for Montgomery’s share of the FY25 budget for the Gateway Regional School District.
Article 10 is approval of $105,000 to pay costs of town residents who attend vocational high schools.
Article 11 asks voters to approve $24,720 to cover the budget of the town library, including $12,516 for the librarian salary, $3,393 for the assistant librarian, and $9,405 for expenses.
Article 12 asks for $4,000 for recycling expenses.
Article 13 asks the town to authorize the Board of Selectmen or its designee to sign all necessary town contracts.
Article 14 asks to allow the town to transfer $44,640 from free cash to make the second payment on the loan for the fire truck.
Articles 15 and 16 concern amendments on zoning bylaws regarding the keeping of animals. Article 15 asks voters to approve an amendment allowing, in the Agriculture-Residential zoning district, “The keeping, raising or breeding of not more than 12 egg-laying hens on parcels devoted primarily to residential use; [and] the keeping, raising, or breeding of not more than 26 meat chickens on parcels devoted primary to residential use.” The bylaw defines a “meat chicken” as a chicken grown for consumption as meat. The amendment would also allow “the keeping, raising or breeding of not more than six turkeys on residential parcels greater than 2.5 acres; the keeping, raising, or breeding of not more than two pigs on residential parcels greater than 2.5 acres; the keeping, raising, or breeding of not more than one rooster, goat, or horse on residential parcels greater than 2.5 acres.”
Article 16 asks to amend the zoning bylaws to prohibit, in the Agricultural-Residential zoning district, “the keeping, raising, or breeding of geese on parcels less than 5 acres in size; the keeping, raising, or breeding of roosters, goats or horses on parcels having an area of no more than 2.5 acres.”
Article 17 asks voters to transfer from free cash the sum of $35,000 for the purchase and installation of mini-split heating and air conditioning system for the office areas and community room of Town Hall.
