Town officials now recommend keeping Rescue 2

Keeping Rescue 2 gets officials' stamp of approval. (Matthew St. Jean photo)

Editor's note: While the ballot verbiage shown below is exactly as it will be seen on the Jan. 24 referendum, the layout and/or spacing of the questions on the actual ballot may be somewhat different.

LEBANON - In stark contrast to their recommendations on the Nov. 4 ambulance referendum, selectmen and budget committee members now unanimously urge townspeople to vote to keep Rescue 2 when they go to the polls next month.

On the Nov. 4 ballot selectmen unanimously recommended that residents vote to defund the town's lease agreement and give up Rescue 2 - the town's newest and best ambulance - in a voluntary repossession.

Budget board members who voted did likewise, recommending unanimously to not fund the lease agreement.

A copy of the official referendum questions that will appear on the Jan. 24 ballot, however, shows that budget committee members now recommend 7-0 to keep Rescue 2.

A listing of those budget committee members who made their recommendations on the ballot question earlier this month was not immediately available.

Those who recommended defunding the lease agreement in advance of the Nov. 4 vote included Budget Chairperson Nancy Neubert, Vice Chairperson Chip Harlow, Tom Torno, Karen Gerrish, Gil Gerrish and Christine Torno.

Townspeople overwhelmingly followed the two boards' recommendations on the Nov. 4 ballot, voting to defund the lease agreement and give up Rescue 2, 1,360-730.

Residents' dissatisfaction with what many considered an ambiguously worded ballot question sparked a successful petition drive for a revote, which selectmen approved thus setting up the January revote.

Officials expect a far smaller turnout than the November election, which drew more than 2,000 Lebanon voters to the polls.

Selectmen and Neubert were not immediately available for comment on officials' change of heart.

Other questions on the ballot include payment options for those voting to keep Rescue 2 and whether or not to eliminate the Rescue Department's enterprise account.