Area townships made the difference in narrowly defeating Tuesday’s referendum to borrow $6.9 million for energy projects and upgrades to Boscobel School District buildings. The unofficial final tally was 567 “No” and 536 “Yes.”

The city of Boscobel had one of its largest voter turnouts in recent memory, with 566 people turning out to cast their ballots, just over 40 percent of registered voters. In the city the vote was 324 “Yes” and 242 “No.”

In the village of Woodman, 26 people voted on the measure, 15 “Yes” and 11 “No.”

Election results in area townships included:

Boscobel: 40 (Y), 39 (N);

Castle Rock: 0 (Y), 0 (N);

Clayton: 0 (Y), 0 (N);

Haney: 2 (Y), 5 (N);

Hickory Grove: 17 (Y), 39 (N);

Marietta: 28 (Y), 67 (N);

Marion: 41 (Y), 62 (N);

Mt. Hope: 0 (Y), 0 (N);

Richwood: 0 (Y), 0 (N);

Scott: 40 (Y), 48 (N);

Watterstown: 24 (Y), 27 (N);

Woodman: 5 (Y), 27 (N);

Total: 536 (Y), 567 (N).

 “I am disappointed that people did not understand the true scope of the project,” Boscobel Area School Board President Todd Miller said of the vote. “There is no way to do this without a referendum.”

The board will be heading back to the table to continue exploring options to address building needs, according to Miller. Another attempt at a referendum in April is a possibility, he said.