By Beth David, Editor
Voters will decide on 14 articles at Acushnet’s Special Town Meeting this Saturday, 11/14, at 10 a.m., at the Ford Middle School, 708 Middle Road. The Selectboard decided to hold the STM largely due to a looming deadline to receive reimbursement for the roof replacement of the elementary school building.
Article one asks for authorization to acquire the funds for a partial replacement of the roof. The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) has awarded Acushnet $1,334,232 for the project with the balance coming from Acushnet taxpayers. The total project cost for the 67,000 square feet of original roofing, is $2,570,759. The town will need to pay the costs and then will be reimbursed by the MSBA. Town Meeting will be asked to authorize borrowing the full amount.
The STM is needed because the MSBA deadline to hear that the town has approved the funds is 11/24.
After the project is finished and paid for, about $1 million will be bonded by the town. Town Meeting could then vote to lower the bond amount using free cash or other revenue sources. The bond will be spread out over 15 years and paid out of the solar fund.
The Finance Committee recommended the article unanimously.
Town Meeting will also be asked to approve a number of capital projects, in a number of articles: Article 3 asks for $15,000 for vehicle refurbishments for the Fire Department; article 6 asks for $275,000 for a loader for the Department of Public Works; $60,000 for a pickup truck with commercial utility cap for the animal control officer; $80,000 from the golf fund for capital repairs and replacements at the golf course;
Other spending articles include: $71,500 from the water fund for a risk and resilience assessment and emergency response plan that must be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by next June; $110,000 from the sewer fund for reimbursement of the school sewer pump; $150,000 from the water fund to replace the water pipeline on Nye Avenue; $77,249 from the capital improvement budget for the schools for science curriculum ($11,499), reading curriculum ($50,000), and developmental reading assessments ($15,750); $50,000 for the OPEB fund; $10,000 from Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds for repairs to recreational equipment at the Pope Park Playground; $75,000 in CPA funds for improvements and cleaning efforts in the Lake Street lakes and adjacent recreational grounds; $5,000 in CPA funds for improvements and cleaning efforts at the Acushnet Riverview Park.
•••
Support local journalism, donate to the Neighb News with PayPal.
Click here to download the entire 11/21/20 issue: 11-12-20 VetsDayCeremony
