LITTLETON, NH - Town Meeting day for Littleton is just around the corner and that means a fresh start for many, but what are the most controversial topics going to be?
The largest item that will appear on the ballot next Tuesday will be if the town can find enough money to build a new town garage. What is the cost for the new garage? Approximately 1.3 million dollars. That's quite a big chunk of change and according to local contractors, the building doesn't even meet the state's building code requirements.
"The place doesn't have any ventilation, the lighting in here is horrible, it's not comfortable to work in here and it's very crowded," said Littleton Garage mechanic, Tim Hines. "We could keep everything inside that we need to keep inside. The lighting would be better, the ventilation - everything. This place costs a fortune to heat because there's no insulation in it."
Town employees have stated that the major repairs required to fix the current building would cost about the same as building a brand new building. Voters will have the final say.
As for the police department, residents can expect to see that all over the ballot come March 10th. The police have written not one, not two, but three separate funding requests to improve services to their community. First on the list is a new police cruiser, next is improvements to safety equipment and finally they are asking for funding for more officer patrol around town.
Budget issues in 2011 forced the town to cut three police officer positions and they're hoping residents will resuscitate the funding for at least one of those positions come next Tuesday.
The public library is also seeking almost 20,000 dollars to renovate bathrooms and replace sewage pipes that run beneath the building. They are also looking for funding that would hire a full-time librarian, someone the town hasn't had in years. The total for everything is about 50,000 dollars, and the residents will have the final call on March 10th.