Beach Repairs Fail After Town Meeting Recount

A recount Monday for a town meeting warrant article requesting $30,000 for the repair of the Bass Beach berm didn't change the overall outcome of the vote, although the recount did change the vote tally.

North Hampton Select Board Chairman Jim Maggiore said Monday that the recount for Article 21, which received a tie 504-504 vote on March 12, upheld the petitioned warrant article's failure after one questionable ballot was officially changed to a vote against the appropriation.

The new town meeting tally is 505 against the article, versus 504 for the article, which Maggiore said had 75 ballots without a vote.

"After recounting, there was one ballot that the machine marked as a non-ballot or a 'no vote' that we all agreed that was marked as a [vote for] 'no,'" said Maggiore, who said the article would've failed had there actually been a tie because a majority vote was needed. "Either way, the outcome doesn't change."

Town officials had recommended the article's passage, stating that a repaired boardwalk — which traditionally has been removed and reinstalled every season — and berm would eliminate accessibly and liability issues in an area that's in "bad shape."

North Hampton Budget Committee Chairman Rick Stanton and member Mike Golden voted not to recommend the article, though, because they said the issue isn't pertinent, especially since during budget deliberations the committee also and asked for Dearborn Park improvements to be delayed a year in order to fund more time-sensitive projects like the Governor Dale Farm conservation, among others.

Hampton also recently had a town meeting recount, the results of which can be found here.