Town meeting is New Hampshire’s most well-known political tradition after the primary. For several Seacoast communities, the annual vote on where the town should put its money and how the town will choose to grow is just around the corner, on  March 14. Over the next few weeks, we’ll take a look at the choices facing the region’s residents. For a full ballot, you can either visit the town Web sites listed below or call the town offices.

Hampton
• 15,363 residents
• proposed $24.32 million budget, up from $23.61 million in 2005.

Hampton voters will contend with a number of big-ticket items, including $1.4 million for upgrades to the town’s water treatment plant, $22,000 for mosquito control, and a $1.77 million addition to the town’s fire station.

Residents in Hampton also petitioned to place a growth ordinance on the ballot. Article 5 calls for the town to adopt a growth ordinance that would limit the number of new residences to 2 percent of the total number of residences in town in the previous year. There were an estimated 7,674 residences in the town in 2004, according to Hampton town planner James Steffen. This means that the number of new buildings allowed in 2005 would have been about 153; however, Steffen said only 50 permits for new homes were issued last year.

Steffen said the planning board has voted to disapprove of the article because the number of permits it allows is much higher than the number of permits issued in a given year. “We pointed out it wouldn’t do what it intends to curb growth,” he said.

Another measure, Article 2, will ask voters to limit growth along Ocean Boulevard. The measure would prohibit street-level residential properties along Ocean Boulevard from the intersection at Ashworth Avenue to the intersection at N Street. Doing so will “encourage commercial/retail vitality along the Boulevard,” the article says.

Hampton residents will also be asked to allow town officials to take $70,000 generated by the town’s cable franchise agreement to fund the town’s government access station.

One item that didn’t make it on to the final ballot was a request for $250,000 to relocate the Hampton District Court. Voters nixed the request at the deliberative session earlier this month.
The full ballot is available at http://hamptonnh.gov/public/tm/Misc/2006Warrent/2006_Warrant.pdf.

North Hampton
• 4,574 residents
• proposed $4.69 million budget, up from $4.16 million in 2005

Voters in North Hampton will consider Article 11, which would change the position of town administrator from part time to full time. The article would also set aside $110,000 for the town administrator’s salary and benefits; the current salary for the existing part-time position is $67,600.

Like its neighbor to the south, North Hampton voters will also be asked to fund a government access cable channel. If approved, Article 19 would allow the town to take $30,000 in cable franchise fees and put the money toward creating a television channel that would broadcast town government meetings and community information.

For a full ballot, call the town clerk at 603-964-8087.

Exeter
• 14,709 residents
• proposed $17 million budget, up from $16.63 million in 2005

The issue attracting the most attention is the proposed $6.3 million renovation plan for downtown Exeter. The plans include enhancing the streetscape and sidewalks, burying overhead utilities and creating a more pedestrian friendly downtown.

The renovation plan is one of the more controversial articles on the warrant. Supporters say investing in downtown will benefit the whole community by attracting businesses, tourists and others to the area; opponents feel the project is too expensive and would only further squeeze residents on a limited income.

Residents will also be asked to approve $8.26 million for a new water tank and $40,000 for mosquito control efforts.

Residents petitioned to get an article on the warrant that would eliminate fees for trash bags. If passed, the town would have to absorb the cost of collecting garbage, about $450,000.
The full ballot is available at: http://www.exeternh.org/2006warrant.pdf.

Rye
• 5,248 residents
• proposed $6.99 million budget, up from $6.68 million in 2005.

Like many Seacoast towns, Rye is looking at ways to encourage the development of more age-restricted housing projects, which supporters say increase the tax base without straining local schools. On March 14, Rye residents will be asked to consider Article 4, which would establish a zoning ordinance for senior housing developments. The age-restricted housing units would be exempt from Rye’s growth ordinance, and bonuses would be given for developments that incorporate affordable housing units.

Residents will also be asked if they want the town to broadcast municipal information on Rye’s community access channel. According to Article 15, information about Rye would be broadcast as a text message and would share air-time with Portsmouth municipal information, which is already broadcast on the channel. There’s no cost for the town; however, Comcast subscribers will see a 1 to 3 cent increase in their cable bills, so as to offset the onetime cost of hardware and software for the broadcast, according to the article.

For a full ballot, call 603-964-8562.

Seabrook
• 8,376 residents
• proposed $16.2 million budget, up from $15.52 million in 2005.

Article 12 asks residents to approve an $8 million bond for the construction of a new district court on land owned by the town. The state would pick up the tab on the new building and the measure would come at no cost to residents. Seabrook would retain ownership of the building should the court move out. The town currently houses the temporary location of the Hampton District Court and is angling to be the permanent location of either the Hampton court or a combined Hampton-Exeter District Court. State and local officials are considering consolidating the two courts. Both district courts were forced to relocate in 2005 due to safety and accessibility reasons in their former buildings. The Exeter District Court is temporarily located in Brentwood.

Meanwhile, articles 13, 14 and 15 ask for an increase in tax credits for veterans and the elderly, respectively. Article 13 would increase the veterans’ tax credit from $300 to $400. Article 14 sets new rates for property tax exemptions for the elderly, which would range from $105,000 to $155,000 for people ages 65 and older. Article 15 would set the property tax exemption rate for disabled residents at $81,500.

Also on the warrant is Article 32, which asks residents for $256,000 to upgrade Seabrook’s wastewater treatment plant in order to satisfy state Department of Environmental Services and federal Environmental Protection Agency regulations. The project would increase the tax rate by $0.25. Two other ballot items, Articles 43 and 47, ask voters to approve installation of an air conditioning system at the Seabrook Community Center (at a cost of $70,000) and air quality tests at town hall (at a cost of $10,000). A petition from residents placed the air conditioning article on the ballot.
The full ballot is available at www.seabrooknh.org/2006%20Annual%20Town%20Meeting%20Warrant.pdf.