The town defeated a motion that would grant members of the Board of Selectmen a stipend, and residents expressed concern over the amount of free cash and what appeared to be the doubling of wages in the Selectmen's office, on the first night of Town Meeting.

The motion to give Selectmen a $2,000 yearly stipend, presented by Briarwood Beach resident Ed Pacewicz, came as an amendment to Article 5, which approves the salaries of several elected officials.

"I think that the Selectmen put a lot of time and a lot of work in there, and they don't have anything to cover their own expenses," Pacewicz said.

The Selectmen are currently unpaid volunteers.

Resident George Barrett said the motion violated past practice. The amendment failed 187 to 122.

Article 5 was passed as written. The Town Clerk's salary will be $59,300, the Town Moderator's per-diem compensation will be $118, and the Clerk/Registrar will receive $700 in fiscal year 2011, which begins on July 1.

In other budget matters, Robert Brady, of Spectacle Pond Terrace, asked why the budget line for the Selectmen's office jumped from about $68,000 in fiscal year 2009 to roughly $151,500 in 2010 and 2011.

"There's same number of people in the offices, it's just that you have a new Town Administrator," said Town Administrator Mark Andrews.

Selectman Brenda Eckstrom indicated that the shift in funds was because John Sanguinet, Administrative Assistant to the Selectmen who served as Interim Town Administrator, was filling two positions before Andrews was hired.  Sanguinet had left the Selectmen's office to fill in as Interim Town Administrator, so his salary was moved from the Selectmen's line item to the Town Administration line item.  With the hiring of Andrews, Sanguinet's salary was returned to the Selectmen's part of the budget.

"[All that] we're doing is we're filling a position that's always been there, that we actually didn't fill because Mr. Sanguinet was working two jobs," Eckstrom said of the Town Administrator position.

Brady also inquired about where money went when it was allocated in the budget to positions that were not filled during the year, such as the Town Planner.

"Where did the money go last year," Brady asked.

Andrews said those unexpended funds go towards the town's positive free cash balance, which he estimated would be between $250,000 and $300,000 once the fiscal year 2009 budget is closed.

Fiscal year 2009 "landed on a positive note for the town for the first time in several years," Andrews said.