Gravel Driveway Repair in Chichester, NH

Three weeks after Chichester residents voted to effectively eliminate the town’s entire administrative office, they reversed course Saturday, deciding to restore nearly all of the money for the office to the town’s operating budget for next fiscal year.

The vote – which passed comfortably, 178-52 – puts to rest major questions that emerged about how a town of 2,600 could perform basic functions, such as paying employees and purchasing postage, without a town administrator or funding for expenses.

But while Saturday’s decision eases the immediate uncertainty, Chichester still faces significant leadership questions. In the coming weeks, the Select Board’s two current members – veteran Richard Bouchard and newly-elected member Matthew Stolnis – must agree on a replacement for former member Mike Williams, who resigned abruptly days before the mid-March meeting.

They must also reorganize the administrative office that residents originally voted to eliminate, armed with about $35,000 less than the $235,000 they originally requested, which coincidentally is about the same amount of money the selectmen paid Jodi Pinard in the form of a raise to return to her post after resigning.

Chichester faced administrative upheaval when Pinard resigned from her role and then was promptly rehired in a non-public session at a salary of $120,000, $31,000 more than she had previously been making.

While the select board defended their decision by pointing to salary data from comparable communities, critics saw the move as a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars and the latest in what they described as a long list of irresponsible decision-making by their town leaders.

Frustrated, they decided to eliminate the executive portion of the budget entirely in an effort to send a message.

The meeting on Saturday was the resumption of that town meeting, which had been paused midway through once it surpassed six hours. Saturday’s continuation began with a motion to restore the administrative office’s budget allocation fully, which passed before an amendment was made to reduce it slightly.

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Chris Weir, the most vocal member of the budget-cutting faction in March, said much had changed over the previous three weeks.

“Now, we’re facing a brand new board,” Weir said in an interview following the vote. “They’re going to start to reorganize that office the way we see fit, or the way they see fit, and I think they’ll involve the public in doing something. So it’s a win-win.”

The motion that passed calls for the three administrative positions in the office to be funded at 3.5% more than they were budgeted for in 2024. Under the salaries laid out in the motion, Pinard would receive $89,965, the currently-vacant planning coordinator and administrative assistant position would receive $61,701, and the part-time town hall floater would receive $17,270.

The select board is not required by law to follow the specific spending allocations laid out in the motion and may move money around as long as it doesn’t spend more than the total $3.8 million operating budget that voters approved. However, Bouchard, the only select board member with experience serving on the board, pledged to “adhere” to the amount budgeted for the administrative office in the motion that was passed.

Pinard, who has worked as Chichester’s town administrator for 11 years, was not present Saturday and did not respond to a request for comment.

By the time the town meeting concluded at roughly 12:30 p.m., voters had spent more than nine hours across two days vociferously debating the future of their small town. Saturday’s turnout of 232 surpassed the 170 that showed up for the mid-March meeting, which itself was higher than Chichester had seen in as long as those present could remember.

Across the ideological spectrum, residents lauded the increased civic engagement and expressed hope it would continue.

“This is fantastic. There are a lot of people here who would not otherwise be here if Chris Weir and others hadn’t raised significant questions, and having a debate is a good thing for the town, not a bad thing,” former town moderator Doug Hall said. “Did you look at the ballots for the school district and the town and how many positions were unopposed? We need people to participate more.”

Weir himself proclaimed victory.

“We came together in a record number of people. We talked, we argued, we discussed, and we voted to do what we, the majority, want done,” he said. “That’s a win. Doesn't matter if I liked it, I agreed with it, or I didn't. We won.”

The Board of Selectmen is set to convene for its first post-town meeting session on April 15, where the third selectman will likely be appointed. No agenda has been released yet.

Jeremy Margolis can be contacted at jmargolis@cmonitor.com.

Jason McKay jokes with friends that Chichester is the greatest place on Earth, but laughs aside, he loves his hometown. In August, McKay took over the Healthy Buffalo, a longstanding local meat shop, and he now intends to open a market next spring. McKay also plans to move the Healthy Buffalo, which has been a staple business in town for over 30 years, to the new market location on Dover Road by Speedway.

“Right now, Route 4 in Chichester is kind of dominated by camping stores and car dealerships and a couple other things here and there, but I want to bring something that will benefit people directly in the town and surrounding towns, as far as getting good quality healthy foods,” McKay said. “It’s something everyone in town would be able to go to and find something that they want or not have to drive to Concord for the grocery store.”

The market, designed to look like a barn, will aim to source goods from businesses in the area. There will be custom-cut meat such as fresh steak, deli options, prepared foods, grab-and-go meals, frozen food options, and hot meals of the day.

“There’ll be a couple indoor tables for people to sit at if they wanted to eat there, and then seasonally, we’re designing it so there’ll be a fun porch, almost like a farmer’s porch facing Route 4, and people could sit out there and just be outside and enjoy the food, enjoy the view,” McKay said.

Even since taking over the Healthy Buffalo, McKay has worked to expand the offerings and inject more local flavor into the goods he sells.

“It’s been a lot of interacting with all sorts of different people, from new customers to farmers and people who make pickles and all those other kinds of side things that complement meat that people buy,” he said.

He views the exotic meat store and future market as a form of putting down roots and getting more involved in the town.

“We have an Old Home Day event every year in Chichester, and I’d like to donate the pig,” McKay said. “They had an issue last year where no one was able to donate a pig. Hopefully this year, we can help out with that.”

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Chair of the planning board Tom Jameson, said he’s excited to see what the market adds to the town.

“I think anytime we can do things in our community and not have to drive to Concord or drive to other areas is going to be a great thing for us,” he said.

The market’s location will be a huge plus, Jameson added.

“Anyone heading east is going through Chichester, so I also think it’ll be great on the weekends for him,” he said. “We want to stay rural as much as possible, so our focus is putting a lot of business on Route 4, Route 28, so it’s the perfect location for something like this. We also want the ability to not have to travel as far, so having amenities in our small town is one thing that we’d like to see.”

McKay and his team await approval from the state’s Department of Environmental Services to begin construction. He hopes to start site work later this spring and have construction take place over the rest of the year. Until the official green light comes through, he’ll continue selling exotic meat at the Healthy Buffalo and dreaming up ways his business can help contribute to Chichester.

“It’s a small enough town where you can really know a lot of people in town and know their families and grow up with friends who all stay local,” McKay said. “It’s just a great community. Most of the people that live around me are more like family than friends.”

Rachel Wachman can be reached at rwachman@cmonitor.com