By Renee Worthing
Register Reporter
   As the New Hampshire Primary Election was underway Jan. 8, Acton residents headed to town hall to cast their vote for a new Acton Selectman.
   By noon, about 200 votes had been cast, and by the time the polls closed at 8 p.m., 651 ballots were cast.
   Candidate Richard “Dick” Neal, who secured 249 votes, was declared Acton’s new selectman.
  “I’m very happy,” Neal said. “I’m looking forward to turning things around and moving the town forward.”
   Neal said his prior service as an Acton Selectman from 1989 to1998 will serve him well.
    “I was somewhat dismayed by all the attacks, the fabrications, made about me during the elections regarding my past history working with the town,” he said.
   But, he said he has a good working relationship with the selectmen.
   “The problems come in faster than you can solve them,” he said. “We’ll continue to work on them.”
   Neal will serve until June 30, completing the term recently vacated when James Driscoll resigned Oct. 30.
  Candidate Anthony Cogliandro secured 210 votes, while Dana McGlincey claimed 124 votes and Patrick Hannon received 52 votes.
   Residents also voted on two questions– the recall of elected officials and a moratorium on commercial development.
   The final tally revealed 342 “yes” votes to recall elected officials, while 296 residents voted “no.”
   Under the recall provision, any elected municipal official of the town of Acton, with the exception of school board members, may be recalled and removed from office by way of a petition.
   The petition for recall must include the name and office of the person whose removal is being sought, as well as a statement explaining the reason the removal is desired. It must also include the names of those circulating the petition.
   Within 10 days of receiving the petition, the town clerk must certify the signatures on the petition and determine if the petition is acceptable.
   If the town clerk determines the petition meets the required criteria, it will be submitted to the next board at their next meeting and the official whose removal is being sought will be notified.
   The selectmen, within 10 days, must order a secret ballot election, to be held not less than 45 days and not more than 60 days later.
   Any vacancy resulting from removal of an official will be filled in accordance with the Maine State Statutes.
   Voters overwhelmingly supported a moratorium on commercial development, with 439 voting “yes” on Question 2 and 195 voting “ no.”
   The moratorium is retroactive to Oct. 26, 2007, and will continue to the end of April while the planning board revises the existing zoning ordinance to include a method of site-plan review and performance standards for commercial and industrial applications.
   The moratorium is in response to Patrick Hannon’s application for a solid waste transfer facility on his property behind his restaurant, Big Daddy’s BBQ, at the intersection of Route 109 and Milton Mills Road in Acton, however, the moratorium may not apply to Hannon’s application because it is already under review.
   To contact Renee Worthing, call 282-4337 ext. 240 or email news@intheregister.com