Town meeting increases sewer hookup fee, OKs new windows

SALISBURY — The four items on the agenda at the annual town meeting Wednesday, Jan. 5 all passed unanimously.

The agenda items were: accepting the town report; accepting the Board of Finance’s audited report; amending an ordinance to make new sewer hookups subject to a $5,000 fee per unit, up from what Rand said was a badly outdated $1,000 fee; and approving spending up to $450,000 on new windows for Town Hall.

Rand said the windows were original and in poor shape. The first round of bids were north of $750,000, he added, so the town put the job out to bid again and got a better deal.

The town report for the 2024 fiscal year is dedicated to Jim Dresser.

First Selectman Curtis Rand said Dresser has a lengthy record of service to the town, including on the Board of Selectmen and the Affordable Housing Commission, and the Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Service.

On affordable housing, Rand said Dresser “recognized at an early stage that affordable housing was a problem,” and donated five acres of land in Salisbury village for housing.

Ten people attended in person, almost all of them either members of town boards or town employees, and nine people attended online.