Rothhaus, Boyd Win Merrimack Town Council Seats; Budget Approved

MERRIMACK, NH — Voters in Merrimack finally were able to vote in 2020 for local candidates and budgets Tuesday approving a new budget and a waste water treatment upgrades after being postponed from April.

Two candidates, Finlay Rothhaus and Bill Boyd, easily were elected to two town council seats, receiving 2,204 and 2,001 votes. A third candidate, Charles Lafond, received 1,069 votes.

Karen Freed and Sohini Gupta were unopposed for two library trustees seats, Lynn Christensen was elected moderator, Jane Coelho was elected to supervisor of the checklist and Jack Balcom was elected to the trustee of the trust funds, all unopposed.

Three candidates waged write-in campaigns for two ethics committee seats. Tim Guidish received 98 votes while Alexander Joy 62 votes, according to Diane Trippett, the town clerk.

"The third highest write-in vote total was Joseph Savitch with 36 votes," she said.

Voters in Merrimack also approved $9.5 million in upgrades to the waste water treatment main plant by a more than three and half to one margin. An article proposing $1.8 million in capital reserve funds for equipment and other purchases were approved by a similar margin as was $500,000 in reserve funds for sewer infrastructure. The town also solidly approved a $33.06 million budget.

Police also received to 2 to 3 percent wage increases between 2020 and 2025 in two sets of votes for two locals.

By a vote of 2,152 to 1,115, voters also approved of a resolution to take action on climate pollution — a "carbon fee and dividend" approach that taxes fossil fuel for pollution while rebating money collected to all residents in the hope that local energy dollars will be spent in the state's economy.

The school district election results were not available at post time.

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