BRISTOL — Dyanne Gibree couldn’t hide her relief after local voters on Tuesday approved a $2-million bond issue to pay for a new animal shelter in town.

Despite two years of planning and a slick marketing campaign that included free coffee mugs, buttons, T-shirts and lawn signs, Gibree, the Bristol animal control officer, knew the project could be a tough sell with the country’s economy in a tailspin. But in the end, there was no doubt about how the town’s voters felt about the proposal. It won approval with 58 percent of the vote.

“It surprised everybody, didn’t it?” Gibree said yesterday.

Maybe not. Despite the tough economic times, voters said yes to most of the capital projects on local ballots throughout the state. In Cranston, $6.3 million was approved for a new fire station. In Johnston, $3 million was approved for a new library. In Warren, $2 million will be used to rebuild the sewer system.

Voters in the Chariho Regional School District gave the OK to $22.2 million for improvements to school buildings. And in East Greenwich, they voted in favor of $52 million for a new middle school.

John Simmons, executive director of the business-backed Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, said he hadn’t expected the overall economic malaise to have a blanket effect on local bond referenda. Typically, he said, voters judge each project on its merits.

“The economy, as we all know, is a prevailing issue,” Simmons said. “But voters look at the individual issues. They do an intelligent review of each project.”

In most cases, communities are able to demonstrate a need for, say, a new school or better roads. Then, Simmons said, they can argue that if voters don’t approve the project the first time, it will inevitably end up on the ballot down the road and at a higher cost.

Under that scenario, “it was not unexpected that the [referenda] would pass,” said Simmons.

The new middle school in East Greenwich was by far the largest local project approved on Tuesday. Nearly two-thirds of the town’s voters said yes.

Schools Supt. Charles Meyers attributed the plan’s approval to a planning process over the past three years that was comprehensive and transparent.

“I was guardedly confident that it would pass,” Meyers said. “I thought it would be much closer given the economy.”

In Chariho, a school district shared by Charlestown, Richmond and Hopkinton, Supt. Barry Ricci said the sagging economy may actually help keep construction costs down when work starts on expanding the middle and high schools. In previous years, when the district went out to bid on a project, two or three firms would show interest. This past summer, 12 companies sent representatives to a pre-bid meeting for one construction project.

“Because of the competition, the prices are coming in lower,” Ricci said. “This is a really good time to go out to bid.”

But there are still challenges facing such construction projects. Take the animal shelter in Bristol. Now that voters have said yes to a bond issue, officials are trying to figure out if the town can afford to borrow the money immediately.

After issuing bonds already for projects that include repaving roads and building a new fire and rescue headquarters, the town is already spread thin, said Town Administrator Diane Mederos.

Moreover, because of the limp economy, she questions how easily the town will be able to find buyers if it issues more bonds.

She said voters may have been “thinking with their hearts” when they approved money for the animal shelter. Mederos said the project will be completed. She’s just not sure when.

“People want these things,” she said. “I want a new car, but guess what? I can’t afford it this year.”

Gibree, however, has no doubts about the project. The current animal shelter, built in 1975 is cramped and crumbling. The foundation has cracked, she said, and the building needs to be replaced.

“It might seem like the wrong time,” she said, “but it’s still the right thing to do.”Election 2008

Election Digest: A compilation of local election news. B2

Tuesday aftermath: Complete coverage begins on A1.

akuffner@projo.com