ORANGE — At 7:20 p.m. Thursday, the group of residents gathered in the Mahar Regional School auditorium was still six or seven voters short of a quorum, and the moderator called it a night.
Seventy-five voters are needed to hold a special town meeting, and the announcement that the meeting would try again Monday at 7 p.m. in the same room was met with sounds of exasperation.
Among the items on the agenda for the evening’s deliberation were transfers totaling $122,275 within the Fire Department budget to pay for new protective gear and hoses to replace aging equipment and a number of spending items from the town’s end-of-year surplus. These included $87,500 to fill a snow and ice deficit and $23,659 to pay for a judgment against the town in favor of Morais Concrete Service.
Also on the agenda, $7,616 in retroactive pay to the clerical union, $15,000 for technology expenses and $10,000 for a town employee pay study.
The town manager and Board of Selectmen have recently discussed ways to increase voter turnout for the special and annual town meetings, after a spate of postponed or nearly postponed meetings.