NEW SHARON – Voters turned out Saturday morning to elect Milton Sinclair to the fill a selectman, assessor, and overseer of the poor seat and to appropriate $10,000 to hire an assessors’ agent and $3,100 for a new heating system at the fire station.
Sinclair, who was the only person nominated at the special town meeting, received 118 votes in a written ballot with 121 people voting.
He fills the seat vacated after Selectman Forrest Bonney resigned at the March 18 board meeting with one year left on his term. Bonney said the reason he resigned came after voters at the annual town meeting didn’t reelect longtime First Selectman Maynard Webster. Challenger Travis Pond was elected to fill the position with 127 votes to Webster’s 83 votes.
As the ballots were counted at Saturday’s meeting, Sinclair said about a dozen people had asked him to run. Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols, Sr., had expressed an interest in running for the selectman’s seat because he, “just wanted to help out,” he said at the time. His wife, Lorna Nichols was elected to a three-year term as selectman last year.
Before the meeting, some expressed concern over a husband and wife serving on the three-person board, especially since newly elected Selectman Travis Pond’s father John Pond was elected as the town’s road commissioner and the board of selectmen administer funding for roads.
Earlier this week, Sheriff Nichols withdrew his intention to accept, if nominated to the position at the town meeting.
Sinclair said before the vote in answer to a question that he and Lorna Nichols will need to work together on anything having to do with roads since Travis Pond would be recusing himself from those decisions.
“Travis has accepted he couldn’t vote on anything pertaining to roads,” Sinclair told voters. “In fact, he’s going to remove himself from the room,” he added, when discussion of roads comes up at a board meeting. Sinclair promised to work fairly with all concerned.
“I am conservative, but I know when things need to be done,” he said. Someone asked him if he intended to run for a full term next year and he quipped, “we’ll see what happens this year.”
After he was voted to the board, Sinclair took his seat for the other warrant articles to be decided.
After a few attempts to cut the proposed $10,000 to be appropriated from the town’s surplus account to hire an assessors’ agent, the majority of voters approved the recommendation.
At the annual town meeting, Selectman Travis Pond suggested a $6,000 total reduction be taken from the selectmen’s pay and add $4,000 from surplus to have the town seek assistance from a professional tax assessment service to help the newly-elected selectmen with their duties as assessors.
However, Webster noted at the meeting that a special town meeting would be required to add those funds, as “assessing services” did not appear in that article, and no amendment was ever made.
Voters approved using $10,000 in surplus funds for an assessing assistant. Also approved was $3,100 for a new heating system for the fire station. The meeting was adjourned after 100 minutes of discussion.
Congratulations, Milt. Best of luck.