WINCHENDON — Town officials’ hopes of expanding Winchendon’s fire station suffered a setback Monday night when voters at the fall town meeting shot down an $850,000 appropriation to pay for engineering and design costs for the project.
Town Manager Keith Hickey explained the town would borrow the money and that paying back the loan over a 10-year period would add an average of $28 per year to their property tax bills. Hickey and Fire Chief Tom Smith argued an addition to, and a renovation of the station is necessary because the Central Street station is short on room for housing the department’s vehicles. The bays where some of those vehicles are parked do not meet code, and the existing facility lacks a number of safety features, as well as separate facilities for male and female firefighters.
Voters at an earlier town meeting did approve spending $75,000 for a fire station expansion feasibility study, but results of that study were released just within the past two weeks. Finance Committee Chair Tom Kane argued on behalf of the committee – which voted unanimously to recommend voters take no action on the article – that more time is needed to allow town officials and residents to review the study report, ask questions, and make comments on its recommendations.
During a PowerPoint presentation, Hickey said current plans for expansion and upgrades to the station would cost $11.8 million, adding $300 to the average annual tax bill over 20 years, or $200 per year for 30 years.
The article was defeated by a nearly 2-to-1 margin by the 153 voters who showed up for the meeting.
Voters did approve borrowing $1 million to pay for the replacement of water and sewer lines along Central Street, home of the town’s traditional retail core. The loan will be paid back via the water and sewer enterprise funds and will not affect the tax rate. The work will take place during the $4.7 million reconstruction of Central Street due to get under way in 2021. That amount will be paid for in full by the state.
A proposal to strip the Zoning Board of Appeals of its authority to grant special permits, placing that power solely in the hands of the Planning Board, was defeated. Planning Board Vice Chair Scott Robillard said the change would streamline the permitting process for businesses and private citizens.
Voters balked at approval, however, when Robillard responded to a question by stating the Planning Board had not spoken or consulted with members of the Zoning Board of Appeals regarding the proposed change.
The plan was defeated by a margin of 52 to 48 percent.
In all, it took voters about two hours to dispense with the 20 articles on the town meeting warrant. The voters used electronic voting devices, similar to a key fob, to make their votes. The results are tallied in percentages rather than by actual vote totals.