ROYALSTON – In one week, voters will decide on three Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusions and one override totaling approximately $1 million.

The Special Town Election will take place next Tuesday, Aug. 6.

The amount of each of the debt exclusions was approved at the Annual Town Meeting in April; those amounts are not included in the wording of any of the three relevant ballot questions.

Polls for next Tuesday’s election will be open from noon to 8 p.m. at Royalston Town Hall.

Question 1 seeks approval of the purchase of a one-ton pickup for the Department of Public Works, while Question 2 asks voters to approve the purchase of a new cruiser for the Police Department. The estimated cost of the pickup is set at $72,000, while the price tag for the cruiser is $62,000.

The largest of three debt exclusions, Question 4, seeks funds to transform the former Raymond School Building into municipal office space. The amount approved for the project at Town Meeting was $755,000. The rehabilitation work will be done by Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School students and the majority of the money will be used to purchase building materials and equipment. Students will receive credit in their respective vocational classes for the work.

Town officials have been working for years to move town offices out of Whitney Hall in the South Village. Earlier this year, Royalston Building Committee Chair Jim Barclay told the Athol Daily News, “We simply have to get our employees out of Whitney Hall.”

The building lacks modern heating and air conditioning, accessibility is problematic, and the structure itself is in need of extensive repair.

The plan for the Raymond School calls for town offices to be placed solely on the building’s main floor. A previous design to upgrade the entire building was estimated to cost approximately $2.5 million and not pursued. Barclay said this proposal, if completed, would provide six rooms and a large meeting room.

Whitney Hall, originally used as a school and town meeting space, was built in 1905. The Raymond School was built in 1939, a product of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration.

Question 3 seeks passage of a Proposition 2 ½ override of $75,000 to fund the hiring of one full-time patrol officer. Police Chief Curtis Deveneau has previously stated that a full-time officer is needed to provide the kind of coverage requested by residents. Royalston is the only community in Worcester County wholly dependent on part-time officers.

Just over two years ago, the police department had 19 officers providing “round-the-clock” patrols. According to Deveneau, due to several factors, chief among them the Massachusetts Police Reform Act, the number of part-time officers is now down to nine.

Requirements in the reform act, Deveneau has explained, include 40 hours of firearms training, 40 hours of Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (EVOC) training, and 40 hours of defensive tactics training. The chief told the town’s Selectboard last November that most part-time officers have other jobs – and families – and can’t afford to take time off to undergo the required training.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@aol.com.