Town of Exeter’s Select Boart Meeting

By ARYAN AGARWAL, NICK BAKER, and LEVI STOLL

On Monday, Feb. 3, the Town of Exeter Select Board held their bimonthly meeting, following up on the yearly deliberative session held on Saturday, Feb. 1. These two gatherings are critical functions of the Town of Exeter’s government, each one serving roles to give townspeople voices and carry out important responsibilities of the government. 

The Town of Exeter operates under the SB2 (NH Senate Bill 2) system. The Select Board, elected officials that serve as the town’s executives, is given input from various town committees and petitions from citizens. This input serves to create the town warrant, a public document listing the issues and articles to be discussed and voted on for New England towns. The Select Board meets twice monthly, culminating in the first of two yearly town meetings, which consists of a deliberative session. Each event is open to any town citizen – who in the SB2 system is the town’s legislators – where articles of the town warrant can be amended before they are voted on in the second town meeting. The select board currently consists of Chair Niko Papakonstantis, Vice Chair Molly Cowan, Clerk Julie D. Gilman, Nancy Belanger, and Daniel Chartrand.

Selectman Papakonstantis gave insight into the deliberative session held on Feb. 1, sharing the agenda items and the decisions that were made. Firstly, a motion was made by a resident to “amend the dollar amount on the removal of Pickpocket Dam,” according to Papakonstantis. This amendment was “voted down by the deliberative session and not amended,” Chartrand shared.

Papakonstantis said, “There was only one other motion to a warrant article, and that was on a citizen’s petition. The amendment was to revise the wording which actually passed. It’s very important to note that the petitioner herself just changed the wording to make it a little stronger.” He continued, “What that means is that all the warrant articles as proposed, with the exception of that one citizen’s petition, will now go on the ballot as originally written.”

Then, regarding the Select Board meeting on Feb. 3, Papakonstantis said, “We interviewed two volunteers, and we appointed both of them. 

One was as an alternate to the Planning Board, and the other was as an alternate to the Pairpoint Park Stakeholders Advisory Committee.” Pairpoint Park Stakeholders Advisory Committee, according to exeternh.gov, has a mission to “focus on formulating recommendations for the Select Board regarding transforming the property at 23 Water Street from an abandoned lot to a downtown community park.” Also, according to exeternh.gov, “The Exeter Planning Board is entrusted with the task of encouraging and directing appropriate land use in the Town of Exeter.” 

During the meeting, the Select Board nominated a resident of Exeter onto the Exeter-Squamscott River Loval Advisory committee. This committee advocates for the protection and preservation of the river and its wildlife. Papakonstantis added, “We adopted the 2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan that was submitted by our emergency management director.” The Hazard Mitigation Plan “describes the natural hazards impacting Exeter, identifies existing programs and plans that mitigate the impacts of natural hazards, and recommends new actions to strengthen resilience to natural hazards,” according to exeternh.gov.  

Papakonstantis elaborated that, “[The Select Board] considered a proposal to revise the charge for our Tax Increment Financing [TIF] Advisory Board, and after discussion and deliberation, we sent it back to the town manager and economic developer to add a few things for us to consider in a future meeting.” A TIF Advisory Board is a group of individuals that advises a local government on how best to utilize increased tax revenue for economic development purposes.

In light of the recent changes in state and federal government, local governments have faced concerns regarding the funding of several projects. Papakonstantis explained, “We just wanted to get our finger on the pulse of where we were and how that might affect projects. It’s been up in the air, but we feel confident that most of our projects will continue to be funded.” 

Papakonstantis detailed, “I put it on the agenda because, at one point last week, President Trump froze everything [all federal funding] and rescinded it 24 hours later. We just want to show the public that we’re keeping our eye on this and that any money that’s been promised to us, we are going to fight to keep vigorously.”

There is, however, some pushback to the board of selectmen system, especially in a town as large as Exeter. “A downside [to the SB2 system] is that … you are making decisions one time a year for a $35-$40 million operation …. It was a form [of government] that was put of town operations was much smaller,” described Selectman Chartrand. Despite this, none of the calls to reexamine Exeter’s government have found any footing. Chartrand continued, “There was a citizen petition in the mid-2010s to study our form of government. The voters voted that down overwhelmingly …. This is the way we’ve been doing it since the 1600s …the legislative body [citizens of Exeter] could change the form of government, but they have shown no inclination to do so. They like their town meeting. The upside is it’s probably the most radical form of democracy.” 

Voting day is on March 11, when this year’s town warrant – currently composed of 37 articles, including citizens’ petitions – will make its way to the voters. Selectwoman Belanger mentioned Articles 21 and 24 — intended to improve sustainability — as some of the many articles that could have meaningful impacts. Article 21 outlines adding EV charging stations to the municipal parking lot. Article 24 would lead to establishing a styrofoam condenser that could mitigate waste at landfills by condensing styrofoam into little packets. “There’s actually a market to sell that product,” continued Belanger.  

The Exeter Select Board’s recent meetings covered a variety of important topics. During the Feb. 1 deliberative session, several articles in the town warrant were discussed and amended, with one citizen’s petition passing after revising its wording. The Select Board also appointed volunteers to committees, adopted the 2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan, and reviewed the status of state and federal grants, ensuring the town remains prepared for potential funding changes.

With important decisions around funding, sustainability, and local projects, the deliberative process allows the community to impact the direction of their government directly. Members of the Exeter Select Board encourage any Exeter resident who is of voting age to vote in the upcoming election. As Exeter heads into the March 11 voting day, all eligible voters need to engage with the town warrant articles and make their voices heard.