SALEM, N.H. — Voters yesterday approved spending $2.34 million to replace two of the town's most decrepit bridges by a margin that surprised even supporters.
Seventy-eight percent of voters supported replacing the bridges on Lawrence Road and Cluff Crossing, two bridges deemed by state transportation officials as too weak to support some commercial-grade vehicles.
The Fire Department began traveling on the bridges only during emergencies and the school district rerouted one of its bus routes. Voters passed the bond, 2,628-794.
"Seventy-eight percent in this community is tremendous," Town Moderator Christopher Goodnow said.
Overall voter turnout was 17.6 percent — 3,604 — which is an average figure for town elections, Goodnow said.
Yesterday's vote averted what was seen as an undesirable Plan B if voters turned down the bridge bond. Selectmen were prepared to go to Saturday's second deliberative session and propose paying for the bridges in cash. That would have driven up the tax rate by 52 cents for a single year.
"The town was determined to get these bridges done, but if we paid cash, it would have been a significant tax impact," Selectman Michael Lyons said. "I think people got a real lesson in the value of bonding."
If Gov. John Lynch backs off his budget plan to take state aid away from area towns, then Salem would essentially have a level-funded budget, Lyons said.
Voters also passed Salem's $32.9 million budget for fiscal year 2009, 2,174 to 1,202.
Aside from elected offices, voters had only two issues to decide upon, the bridge financing and the town budget. Selectmen kept the ballot sparse this year because of the dire condition of the national economy.
The bond vote, which needed a two-thirds majority — 67 percent — voter approval, won the kind of support that no other town project has seen in recent years.
Supporters were worried that a combination of a bad economy and Salem's history of falling short of a super-majority of votes with bond proposals would cause the bond to fail.
Selectman Arthur Barnes said he believes voters understood that a long-term bond made the most fiscal sense.
"I think it speaks to a couple of things," he said. "People realized there was a need for this work and that 80 percent of the cost is going to be reimbursed."
On Saturday, residents will consider paying cash to replace a third bridge, this one on Pelham Road for $468,000.
Voters yesterday approved forming a charter commission, 1,657 to 1,521. They rejected allowing taller office buildings, 1,816 to 1,595, and supported banning kennels from the rural-residential district, 1,859 to 1,451.
Voters did approve a change to the zoning ordinance that would require large-scale redevelopment projects to go before the Planning Board, 2,005 to 1,315. The article was written with the redevelopment of Rockingham Park in mind. Park management approved the change.
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