Lebanon Budget is approved along with Amston Lake Sewer Project

The Lebanon Budget was passed last night by 200 votes and the Sewer Referendum won by over 700 votes. Most of residents were happy that the both projects did pass because the alternative was gridlock and a long fight.
In the case of the Town Budget it is clear that this prevented layoffs of over 14 teachers throughout the school system. The question now is how many teachers are going to be eliminated? The $300,000 that was added by the Board of Finance will cover only the increase in the Health Care Insurance costs for the school system. The salary increase for the teachers, that the labor contract required, of 4.75% will not be supported by this budget.The question for the teachers union is do you want the raise or do you want to save people's jobs?
The Amston Lake Sewer project passed easily. Most residents clearly saw that if it was not approved then we were facing a long drawn out legal fight with the State. It will be interesting to see whether the residents of Amston Lake push for Zoning changes that allow for the seasonal residences to convert to year round use. Will they pursue a lawsuit or will they be satisfied with just a political solution? That remains to be seen. To say the least everyone breathed a sigh of relief when it did pass.