Dublin Town Meeting approves ConVal withdrawal article

Dublin Town Meeting was held Saturday at Dublin Consolidated School.

The school was saved from potential closure by rejection of an article March 13 that would have changed the ConVal School District’s Articles of Agreement, and after considerable discussion, residents approved a petition article calling on the district initiate a feasibility study of Dublin’s withdrawl by a 116-49 count.

After Budget Committee Chair Bill Gurney reviewed the highlights of the proposed $2.63 million budget – an increase of about 6% -- Allen (Jeff) Pinney submitted a motion to cut the budget to $2.52 million, encouraging attendees to force the town to live within its means. The motion failed and the article passed.

Articles on funding capital reserve funds, road maintenance, repairs to the town- owned post office building, repairs to the capital reserve fund for the Civil War monument, repairs to Town Hall, safety improvements at the transfer station, cemetery work, funding The Advocate, supporting local nonprofits, funding expendable trust funds for revaluation and town’s master plan, assigning agents to expend funds, funding security upgrades at town buildings and establishing a capital reserve fund for energy efficiency projects all passed with minimal to moderate discussion.

An article requesting establishment of a separate fund to account for Dublin Police work on special details, separate from routine police operations, was decided by secret ballot. It was reported that the Police Department participated in 24 details in 2023, four of which were out of town.  Voters expressed concerns about wear and tear on police vehicles and taking officers out of town for such details before the ultimate vote of 141-21 in favor of the article.

A second petition article, requesting implementation of a pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) program for solid waste disposable generated lengthy discussion, and was the only article that failed.