Athol Town Meeting to vote on budget, liquor licenses, and road repairs

ATHOL – Monday’s Annual Town Meeting will decide on a revised budget, along with two separate requests for additional liquor licenses and a bylaw revision around private road repairs.

The Town Meeting will take place at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 8, at Town Hall. The warrant contains a total of 32 articles.

Voters will be asked to approve a proposed FY27 town budget of just over $21.5 million. While that total represents a nearly 6% increase in spending over the current fiscal year’s budget, it also includes layoffs of 4.5 town employees. An additional four positions that are currently vacant would remain unfilled and the summer beach and recreation programs would be eliminated.

Town Manager Shaun Suhoski said this budget will be the first of a two-phased plan to eliminate a $1.7 million deficit over the next two fiscal years. These cuts would reduce the town’s spending by $882,000.

Staff cuts coming in the FY28 budget would reduce spending by another $892,000, according to the plan put together by Suhoski and his finance team.

An attempt was made to pass two Proposition 2 ½ overrides to cover the deficit, but both were defeated at the recent town election.

This plan and the proposed FY27 budget have received unanimous support from the Finance and Warrant Advisory Committee.

“I do feel the leadership boards – the Selectboard, Finance Committee, and Capital Planning – with the extra meetings they had this year, have coalesced around a plan to have a balanced budget for FY27,” said Suhoski, “and we’ll continue to work on the fiscal challenges moving into next year. I do feel like we put forth a good proposal for the town to consider on the budget.”

Among the more contested of the staff cuts is the elimination of the assistant town planner position, currently held by Heidi Murphy. Selectboard member Mitch Grosky and Planning Board Chair David Small are among those who have urged the finance team to find some way to maintain that position.

At a Selectboard meeting on May 19, Grosky pointed out that, since coming to Athol just over two years ago, Murphy has successfully written grants totaling more than $500,000 for a variety of town projects.

Article 25 asks the Selectboard to seek an increase in the number of all-alcohol licenses at convenience or package stores. Currently, the town has three such licenses and all are assigned. The article asks the Selectboard to file a home rule petition with the state legislature allowing the town to grant up to five more all-alcohol licenses.

A companion article, Article 26, seeks similar action regarding the number of beer and wine licenses. Athol has five of these licenses, likewise all assigned. The article asks that the Selectboard be allowed to ask the legislature for an additional five beer and wine licenses.

Each proposal to increase the two types of licenses requires a separate vote at Town Meeting. The Finance Committee has recommended passage of both articles.

“I’ve heard good arguments on both sides of that equation,” said Suhoski. “That’s really a policy decision, so I’ll leave that to the people to debate.”

The final article on the warrant, placed via citizen’s petition, seeks to expand Section 32 of the town bylaws, which govern town maintenance of private roads. The petitioners want to amend the bylaw by adding language which requires the town to “minimally maintain all asphalt private roads within the Town of Athol.”

The amendment specifies that potholes on private roads are to be filled “annually with use of only asphalt or asphalt-based materials,” and that the town also address drainage issues and, if necessary, make repairs to culverts.

At the Selectboard meeting on June 2, board member Marc Maxwell asked Town Counsel John Barret about the potential impact, should the article pass.

“I think it’s more of an idea of a request than it is a binding law,” Barrett responded. “I certainly understand the intent. People need to have some help in dealing with their roads, but the way it’s phrased, it seems to say you’re going to fix our roads before you fix anybody else’s roads, or even public ways. So, I think it’s of dubious enforceability. I don’t think it’s illegal; it’s a case that it just isn’t enforceable.”

Barrett added that, while the bylaw could be amended, “It still gives the town the authority to make repairs to private ways, but what repairs get made are still up to the town. If it does pass, I’d have to figure out how it gets blended with Section 32 of the bylaws.”