Residents hold up yellow cards Saturday to cast their votes on a warrant article during the Canaan annual town meeting in the Canaan Farmers Hall. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

CANAAN — Voters at the annual town meeting Saturday approved a five-year, $1 million bond for road projects, an updated ordinance to restrict medical cannabis businesses, and about $1.88 million in regular town spending for this year.

About 100 residents gathered at the Canaan Farmers Hall, approving most of the Select Board’s proposals for yearly business in about two hours.

Canaan Select Board member Jeff Clarke answers a resident’s question during the annual Canaan town meeting Saturday in the Canaan Farmers Hall. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Only one article, for town spending, was reduced from the amount proposed on the warrant. Town officials said they recently received new pricing for one item included in the budget that turned out to be about $4,300 lower than expected.

It is too soon to know how the approved total spending, 10% more than last year, will impact this year’s property tax rate, as the Somerset County and Maine School Administrative District 54 budgets have not yet been set.

The approved, amended ordinance, Prohibiting Cannabis Retail Establishments and Cannabis Social Clubs, passed by a secret ballot vote of 85-16.

The ordinance has two parts. The first expressly prohibits adult-use cannabis establishments, including manufacturing, testing, commercial cultivation, social clubs and retail. That ban was already effectively in place under the previous ordinance.

The second part addresses medical use cannabis establishments, which the town opted to allow last year. Among other restrictions, it allows only two such stores or dispensaries in Canaan and does not allow them to be within 1,500 feet of designated “safe zones.” The ordinance does not allow for medical use cannabis manufacturing and testing facilities.

Residents hold up yellow cards to cast their votes on a warrant article Saturday during the Canaan annual town meeting in the Canaan Farmers Hall. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

It also lays out a detailed licensing process and the town’s enforcement authority for permitted establishments.

Planning Board member William Dawe said the board developed the ordinance by looking at what other towns have put in place. Planning Board members and Canaan’s code enforcement officer, Charles Worcester, have received several calls in the last year from people seeking to open cannabis establishments, he said.

“What we had previously left a lot of open loopholes,” Dawe told the room of voters.

The ordinance that passed was drafted to allow law enforcement and the town to enforce the rules, according to Dawe.

“We’re just looking to minimize the impact to the community itself,” Dawe said.

In other business, voters approved the $1 million bond for road work. The funds will be used toward improvements to roads including, but not limited to, Sand Road, Tropical Fish Road, Shady Lane, Easy Street, Nelson Hill Road and Strickland Road.

The passage of the bond means that no road improvement budget articles will be needed at the next five town meetings, unless there is an emergency need, according to town officials.

Select Board member Jeffrey Clarke told voters that the town funded projects in a similar way several years ago. The bond allows the town to make a five-year plan and hire a paving contractor in the spring rather than later in the year, as funding is already in place.

“It’s not new to Canaan,” Clarke said. “We’ve done it before. It worked really, really well.”

Voters also approved $250,000 for improvements to Pinnacle Road, Browns Corner Road, Henshaw Road and a section of Lancaster Road, to be included in this year’s budget.

Other major spending approved for costs related to roads for this year include $212,000 for winter road maintenance, $157,700 for summer road maintenance and $100,000 toward a $200,000 down payment on a 2025 plow truck.

The sign Saturday outside the Canaan Farmers Hall displays information for the annual Canaan town meeting, followed by a potluck. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Approved spending, for the fiscal year that began Feb. 1 and runs through Jan. 31, 2026, also included: $520,229.47 for town expenses, $132,000 for solid waste reduction, $72,100 for the fire department, $72,100 for the library and $46,300 for cemeteries. Voters approved $100,000 toward future purchases of fire department motorized equipment.

An article requesting $18,100 to send up to 85 local children to Camp Podooc this summer at Lake George Regional Park drew some questions but was ultimately passed.

Voters also passed a largely procedural article on the warrant annually to continue honoring the 20-year interlocal agreement for Lake George Regional Park, which was signed in 2018.

A motion by resident David Calder to separate the interlocal agreement from an article that contained nine other, unrelated procedural items failed to garner a second, so it did not go to a vote.

The Lake George Corp. manages the 320-acre, state-owned park off U.S. Route 2 through an interlocal agreement with the towns of Canaan and Skowhegan. Per the interlocal agreement, first signed in 1992, each town appoints five people to the corporation’s board.

Some people, including Select Board member Daniel Harriman, had suggested in the last year that the town formally exit the agreement. The park and the town were at odds last year over the Select Board’s appointment of Canaan’s Lake George board representatives and the length of their terms.

Town meeting resumes Monday with the election of municipal officials.

Starting this year, following voter approval in 2024, Canaan’s Select Board is implementing three-year, staggered terms for its three members. This year, voters will choose one member for a one-year term, one for a two-year term and one for a three-year term.

Running for the seat with a one-year term are Clarke, an incumbent, and Maureen Delahanty. Tammy Hey is running unopposed for the seat with a two-year term. Incumbents Megan Smith and Harriman are facing off for the three-year term.

Races for Planning Board, road commissioner and MSAD 54 board of directors are uncontested.

Polls are open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday at the Canaan Town Office at 277 Main St.

The first floor in the Canaan Farmers Hall is set up for a potluck that follows Saturday’s annual town meeting. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal