Newport Center Town Meeting

Voters approve law enforcement spending

by Matthew Wilson

NEWPORT CENTER — At the Newport Center Town Meeting, held on the evening of March 4, an issue the select board has discussed over the past year was brought before the people.  The town’s contract with the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement was the subject of conversation between Orleans County Sheriff Jennifer Harlow and town residents.  A common complaint repeatedly brought to the select board concerns speeding in residential areas and the question of whether sheriff’s deputies are strict enough with those they stop.   Those questions were raised again at Town Meeting.

Newport Center Select Board members review the monthly reports provided by the sheriff’s department at their monthly meeting. Board member Richard Gosselin, himself a former police officer, reads through the reports and considers the departments actions in detail.

Select board members have often said they want deputies to give fewer warnings and more tickets, which they say would send a message to repeat offenders.

To that end, the board has met with Sheriff Jennifer Harlow during the monthly select board meetings more than once.  When the board discussed the issue at their meeting in December, they decided to leave the wording for the annual Town Meeting open to the possibility of another service taking over the contract, but the quote provided by the sheriff’s office remained in place.

The quote for six hours police patrol each week was $21,840.  When the article to approve funding for police came up for discussion, select board chair Steve Barrup said that he wanted to take an opportunity for the community to talk about its concerns regarding the police.

“The select board has taken a number of calls and concerns from the people about police services,” Mr. Barrup said.

The first questioners asked whether there would be an increase in patrol hours.   Sheriff Harlow, who was at the meeting, said that there would not, with the contract being for the same service that the town has received so far.  The sheriff talked about the contract and the duties of her officers in detail.  She said the work involved in any case goes beyond the traffic stop or initial call.

Paperwork and booking also are part of the process that is paid for by the contract with the town.

“We do more than just park our cruisers in town,” Sheriff Harlow said.

Mr. Barrup said that the sheriff would attend the select board meeting on the Thursday following the Town Meeting and invited residents with comments or concerns to attend.  Voters approved spending up to $21,840 on law enforcement for the town.

Another article that saw some discussion was the decision to move away from having listers and to the hiring of a professional assessor.  One of the listers, Steve Naraghi, said that the service will likely be better because a professional assessor has a greater knowledge of the laws and regulations around property assessment.  Town residents were mostly concerned about how much the service could cost.  The cost of the service is $95 per hour, which drew comments as to how much could be done when compared to how much the listers cost.  Mr. Naraghi said that the service would be worthwhile and the item eventually moved to a vote, where the change was passed and the listers’ responsibilities transferred to an assessor service.

Newport Town School District directors spoke about the school and the work of educating local kids when the article for their budget came up.  The requested funding for the school budget came in at $4,058,641.  The metrics shared with the crowd showed students have kept up with their studies and fewer are at risk of falling behind.  School board chair Cameron Thompson highlighted work to build a strong relationship between the school and the community.  Part of the school board presentation included a video showing the Multigeneration Meals Program the school hosts.  Free meals for those attending Town Meeting were provided by the same program, made possible by a grant from the Leahy Foundation.

A motion was made to have a paper ballot for the school budget.  After an intermission called to count the ballots cast throughout the day for the North Country Union High School and Career Center budget.  While it passed when all towns’ votes came in, the high school budget failed in Newport Center by a margin of 37 to 34.

All the other articles passed without much discussion.  All the town officials were reelected, with the exception of the choice of a new moderator, Steve Roberts.