DANVILLE — Voter turnout was sparse yesterday, but the small crowd made some big decisions.

The town's operating budget of $2.5 million was defeated, 207-298, leaving the town with a default budget of $2.4 million.

Despite the weight of the decisions, Town Moderator Walter Fries said the turnout was much less than in recent years.

"It's probably the lowest turnout in the last 30 years," he said. "In terms of percentage, I've never seen it this low, and I've been moderator for about 20 years."

Fries said that was likely because there were no burning issues on the ballot this year.

The only contested race, a three-way contest for fire warden, was won by Brian Delahunty. He got 249 votes. John Burnett tallied 126 votes and Timothy Griswold trailed with 99 votes.

There were no declared candidates for a three-year term as trustee of the trust funds, but there were 36 write-in votes cast. Julie DiCarlo garnered the most write-in votes with five.

Voters approved changes to the zoning ordinance, clarifying the use of commercial vehicles with home occupations and parking commercial vehicles in residential, agricultural and the village districts.

Voters rejected a lot of articles, including spending $3,800 for police overtime for speed enforcement and $50,000 for the Fire Department Vehicle Capital Reserve Fund.