In the weeks leading up to the Onset Fire District special meeting, Onset resident Mike Besse wanted to draw attention to a particular article on the warrant and encourage fellow residents to come out and vote.

Besse, a former Prudential Committee member and Water Commissioner, opposed an article that would give Water Department employees significant raises, anywhere from 8.5 to 17.8 percent, he said.

At the District's annual meeting last April, voters amended an article that set salaries for Water Department personnel and removed the pay raises it requested.

But the pay raises were back on the agenda for Monday's special meeting.

"In this economy, [with] people taking cuts in pay, people losing their houses ... it's a little ridiculous," Besse said.

To raise awareness, Besse did something a bit unusual. He had an outhouse built.

The wooden outhouse is in two sections. A ladder leads to the top section, labeled, "Onset Water Commissioners." The bottom is labeled "Voters."

"I had hoped to get people to come to the District meeting," Besse said.

Instructions tacked to the outhouse let curious passersby know when and where the meeting would take place. At one point, Besse loaded the outhouse into the back of his pick-up truck and parked it in front of the Onset Post Office in an effort to attract some interest.

Warned about possible legal repercussions, voters passed the article and granted the raises on Monday.

On Tuesday, Besse posted another note to the outhouse. It read: "YOU WERE SCREWED."

The outhouse is still standing in front of Besse's Robinwood Road home.

"I may leave it there for awhile," he said.