ROYALSTON — Next Tuesday, voters in Royalston will not only be casting ballots in the respective party primaries, they will also decide the fate of a $310,000 Proposition 2½ debt exclusion. A proposal to borrow the cash was overwhelmingly approved at the annual Town Meeting on June 11, but to move ahead it must also be endorsed by voters by means of a ballot question.
While a breakdown of the proposed use of the money will not appear on Tuesday’s ballot, the article approved at Town Meeting sought $50,000 for upgrades to Whitney Hall, the purchase of a Public Works Department pickup truck for $60,000, and $200,000 for a dump truck/sander cab and chassis for the DPW.
At the June 11 meeting, former Selectboard member Roland Hamel argued that a decision regarding the DPW purchases should be delayed until the hiring of a new public works director. A search committee to find the new DPW chief was appointed earlier this year and has been meeting in hopes of finding one relatively soon. Long-time director Keith Newton officially relinquished the job as of Sept. 1.
At the time, Selectboard Vice Chair Chris Long argued, “We can’t wait until there’s a new super on board because we need (the dump/sander) for this coming winter. If we wait, we won’t have the equipment we need to handle winter work.”
Board Chair Deb D’Amico noted the town has 75 miles of road that need to be maintained.
Public Works employee Mike Truehart noted that, given supply chain issues and turnaround time, the new sander cab and chassis will likely not be delivered to the town in time to be deployed for the upcoming winter.
Another resident attempted to separate the proposed expenditure for Whitney Hall and for the vehicle purchases into two distinct motions, but Town Moderator George Northrup ruled the article had to be voted on as it appeared in the printed warrant.
Former Selectboard member Gary Winitzer told the Athol Daily News there is another issue to consider.
“The other thing is,” he said, “is the matter that it increases taxes. I’m opposed to anything that increases taxes. At the time they did it (passed the Town Meeting article), they hadn’t been able to certify free cash. They always say they have no money to buy things, but they keep on spending money. There are other ways to do it besides an override.”
Winitzer also noted a change in the town’s demographics.
“What we have in town is a change in population,” he continued. “The people who have lived here all their lives — some have died and some have moved away — and what we have is a huge influx of people with lots of money. So, they don’t care if taxes go up.”
The proposed debt exclusion appeared on the Town Meeting warrant with the backing of the town’s Capital Planning Committee. As a result, Andy West, also a former Selectboard member, said at the time, “I’d like to honor the work that was done by the Capital Planning Committee and the DPW to come up with this proposal. It’s been mentioned that if we vote it in today, it won’t be ready for service this winter. If we vote it down today, it won’t be ready for next winter. We’ll have to come back with a new plan.”
Royalston Town Clerk Barb Richardson told the Athol Daily News that, since the debt exclusion is being voted on the same day as the state primary, the number of votes cast on the ballot question will likely be significantly higher than would normally be the case in a special town election. She also noted that balloting on the question will continue during the same voting hours as those for the primary, which is 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Town elections generally run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voters will be given a separate ballot for the debt exclusion question. Voting will take place on the first floor at Royalston Town Hall.
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com