All that remains is to start the voting.

This coming Monday, the town of Hanover will kick off its 2007 annual Town Meeting. Though the town won't find itself wading through the same sort of budgeting dilemmas some of its neighboring communities have struggled with this spring, voters in Hanover will still have plenty to consider as they map out the next 365 days of their town's history.

Indeed, it seems the hottest issue in town has become the towns proposal to transform two elected position into appointed ones. Articles 43 and 44, as well as Questions 2 and 3 on this year's election ballot, will ask the town to remove both the tax collector and the board of health from future ballots, and place their appointment in the hands of the board of selectmen.

Since 1995, Joan Port-Farwell has served as the tax collector in Hanover. During last week's Candidates' Night forum, Port-Farwell, who is running unopposed for re-election in this year's election, said the responsibilities of the collector's office have expanded in recent years, to the point that she believes the town would be better served appointing more qualified individuals than elections often offer.

"Times have changed, and the town has grown remarkably in recent years," Port-Farwell said. "The volume of revenue going through the tax office is now well over $50 million a year. Moreover, the role of the tax office has changed, as we're now handling receipts for every department in town. It seems to me that level of responsibility requires someone with the right experience and expertise."

Were Question 2 to pass, the tax collector's position would become an appointed position at the conclusion of Port-Farwell's upcoming term, which will expire in 2010. The measure would also be implemented if she decided to leave the office before her term expires.

Earlier this week, Selectman Daniel Pallotta echoed Port-Farwell's remarks at Candidates' Night, and assured voters that the town's initiative to make the tax collector's position appointed was not, in his opinion, a step away from democracy in Hanover.

"[Port-Farwell] isn't trying to take over the world or anything like that," Pallotta said. "This is a consolidation that only five communities on the South Shore, other than us, haven't done."

"If we keep this position elected, we could be looking at someone who really doesn't know what they're doing," he added. "They might be the most popular, but that doesn't mean they're the right person for the job. The tax collector's position should be an apolitical job."

A healthy debate

Pallotta said he believes the same is true of the board of health, however he noted key differences in the two measures. While the measure to turn the tax collector's position into an appointed one was an initiative of the board of selectmen, Pallotta said it was important for voters - particularly those worried about the board of health being stripped of its autonomy - to remember that it was the health board that requested the measure be placed on this year's ballot, and on the warrant for Town Meeting.

"What is clear is that we haven't had a contested election for that board in over a decade," Pallotta said. "We do need some qualified on that board, just like we need someone qualified to run the tax office, and we don't seem to get candidates with the specific expertise that board requires."

While the board of health has, by majority, voiced its support for the measure, not all of its members are convinced the shift is in the town's best interest. Health board member Diane Edge said she does not see any compelling reason to remove certain positions from the annual election ballot, despite apparent disinterest on the part of the community.

"We live in a democracy," Edge said. "We have the right to elect our officials and not have them appointed by just three people. I believe in electing our officials and having an open government, and I believe that if we start having the selectmen appointing their choice for these boards, then our government is no longer open to the public."

If Question 3 were to pass, Edge's election - along with fellow health board candidate Lori Leo's election -to the board on May 12 would be essentially voided. Both Edge and Leo are running unopposed in the Town Election.

Edge said she, like many opponents of the measures, worries the board of health and the tax collector's position might be just the first in a long line of elected positions to disappear from the ballot over the next few years.

"What if this keeps going, and next year they decide to make a few more committees and board appointed positions instead of elected ones," Edge said. "That to me sends a big, red flag up."

Their best gust

One article on this year's warrant sure to spark discussion is the town's measure to appropriate $92,000 to pay for a wind feasibility study, as well as a design and construction study, to be conducted at three sites in town currently under the purview of the department of public works. The studies would bring the town of Hanover one step closer to being the next community in Massachusetts to install electricity-producing wind turbines to help combat rising energy costs.

Earlier this year, selectmen voted unanimously to submit a grant request to the Massachusetts Technical Collaborative to help fund feasibility studies for wind powered turbines at three sites in Hanover.

The three locations - two of the department of public works' well fields at Riverside Drive and Broadway, as well as the water treatment plant at the department's main office on Pond Street - could feasibly accommodate a 105-foot, 100-kilowatt wind turbine, according to a preliminary study conducted by New York-based wind research and assessment firm, Sustainable Energy Developments.

The board's article would ask voters to appropriate the money initially needed to finance the new studies, while the grant money would likely not come in until after the proposed studies are completed.

"What will happen is Town Meeting could vote to approve the money to fund the studies, and then the town would be reimbursed with the grant money," Town Administrator Stephen Rollins said.

The studies, which Rollins said could be completed as soon as this summer, would seek to answer several physical and technical questions town officials have said need to be resolved before the town can move forward with any construction or design. While Selectmen Chairman Alan Rugman said it's possible - pending the conclusion of the studies - the town could see as many as three wind turbines built as a result of this current initiative. DPW Superintendent Victor Diniak said his department needed a good deal more information before giving the project its final blessing.

"I'm cautiously optimistic about all this," Diniak said, "but I've still got to worry about noise production and any impact to the neighbors of those sites."

Senior center in spotlight

Another article - and ballot question - seeking a large appropriation is the Senior Center Building Committee's request for a $4.9 million debt-exclusion override of Proposition 2 1/2, which would fund the construction of a new, 10,500 square-foot senior center on Center Street.

Senior Center Building Committee chairman John Thomson said he and the building committee had been working diligently during the last several months with principal architect Joseph Rizza of Court Street Architects and civil engineer Peter Palmieri of Merrill Associates to determine the size, shape and physical siting of the building, and to finally reach a projected cost to present to voters Monday.

"[$4.9 million] is as nailed down as the number's going to get leading up to Town Meeting," Thomson said earlier this week. "[The designers] feel their cost estimates are good, and we feel like we'll have a good representation of the project for the voters at Town Meeting."

According to Rizza, the new building would not only be a valuable resource to the town, but also a compliment to Hanover's architectural history.

"We tried to design a building that really fits in Hanover and meets the context and character of other significant buildings in the town," Rizza said during a public hearing earlier this year. "Hanover being a rural community, that's one of the elements that is really influencing our design. It's going to look like it's made to be in Hanover."

While the passage of Question 1 would be a monumental step forward in the process of building a new senior center, Thomson said, its success will depend largely on voters at Town Meeting. Before Hanover residents have the opportunity to vote on Question 1, Town Meeting will be responsible for finalizing the amount of the debt exclusion by way of Warrant Article 29. If the building committee were successful at both Town Meeting and at the election ballot on May 12, the proposed project would then be referred back to the zoning board of appeals and conservation commission for approval.

The 2007 Annual Town Meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 7 at Hanover High School. Voters are reminded to pick up a copy of the Advisory Board's recommendations at the door.