CHESHIRE, Mass. — Annual town meeting approved a $7.6 million budget for fiscal 2024 and the use of nearly $600,000 in free cash for spending articles and to keep the budget under the tax levy ceiling.

 

It also spent nearly 45 minutes debating the benefits of buying a wheeled excavator before approving the purchase 49-34 in a card vote. 

 

It was the only article that saw any significant opposition; almost all the voted questions on the 36-article warrant passed unanimously. Eighty-seven of the town's 2,496 voters signed into the meeting. 

 

Town meeting swiftly passed spending articles with only a few clarifying questions. Increases in the 2024 fiscal budget include a third full-time officer with placeholder pay up to $55,000 and a municipal clerk/assistant treasurer at $45,936; stipends for the volunteer firefighters at $25,000; health insurance benefits for the two new posts and the Council on Aging director, and the McCann Technical School assessment.

 

The vocational school's cost is $564,446, up 12 percent from $438,574 this year. The assessment is calculated by enrollment. 

 

The total educational assessment with Hoosac Valley Regional School District and a $30,000 out-of-district placement is $3,512,908. Select Board member Jason Levesque was the sole vote against the school spending. 

 

The officer would allow the Police Department to provide more coverage daily and the evening hours of 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. on weekends. The Fire Department says it has half as many members to respond to twice as many emergencies since 1995. The stipends are considered an "appreciation." 

 

The town meeting also approved transferring $321,916.77 to reduce the budget to bring it under the Proposition 2 1/2 tax levy ceiling. This will bring the levy to $4,889,491; the estimated tax rate is $12.38 per $1,000 valuation.

 

The town currently has $797,000 in certified free cash, $243,000 in capital stabilization and $550,000 in its stabilization fund.

 

 After this transfer and the purchase of the excavator there will be just north of $233,000 in free cash. 

 

Article 20 on the excavator was moved up before Article 12's highway budget at the request of Town Moderator Carol Francesconi, saying the vote would affect the budget. 

 

Officials and residents discussed the relative benefits of buying a wheeled excavator at $177,300 to replace a 2004 John Deere backhoe for the Highway Department. 

 

The Select Board recommended the purchase, saying the vehicle was affordable and was the result three years of discussion and of research by board member Ron DeAngelis and the town's co-highway superintendents.

 

The Finance Committee did not support the purchase, with Chairman John Tremblay saying their recommendation was to add $20,000 to the budget to rent a machine for a year and let the incoming Department of Public Works commissioner weigh in on the decision.

 

"We think it's good business to rent for one year," he said, adding that his committee also had experienced equipment operators and had done their own research in talking with municipalities. "We came to the conclusion we basically ended up with more questions than we had answers about this particular vehicle."

 

The pros aired were that the excavator was more flexible, had less maintenance and could be driven to where it needed to be, and that a tracked backhoe requires a trailer and a driver with a CDL license. 

 

The cons were that it may be more expensive to buy, that it won't be able to do the work of the backhoe, that it may not be the choice of the new DPW commissioner and that the town has had problems with other equipment it's bought outright in finding they are not as useful as expected. 

 

"We have the flexibility in this year's budget to make a purchase without a 2 1/2 override without exclusions or interest," said McGrath. "This type of equipment is very low as far as rental availability. It's just most rentals are tracked excavators."

 

Co-Superintendent Corey Swistak said the town had rented a tracked vehicle last year but it tore up fresh pavement. 

 

"We're gonna spend all that money and take a chance on ripping up the blacktop?" he asked. 

 

The pros were enough to convince voters to back the purchase. 

 

Voters also adopted a state law authorizing the Select Board to set a speed limit of 25 mph on town-owned roadways; set up and changed some stabilization accounts; approved a personnel bylaw; adopted several state law sections increasing the eligibility criteria for the senior property tax exemption; approved two articles on cleaning and reording bylaws; and gave the OK to a stormwater bylaw. 

 

Town meeting also approved changing the status of the Board of Assessors from elected to appointed on a vote of 72-1. This required a two-thirds vote. 

 

The board has been without a third member for two years because no one would run for the office; allowing the Select Board to appoint means they can reach outside the town.  McGrath said this was also a recommendation from the state Department of Revenue. 

 

Articles 26 and 27, citizen's petition bylaw modifications related to cannabis, were withdrawn at the request of the petitioner. 

 

Jake Ziemenski of Cavu Hemp Farm said he had brought these to the Planning Board but had since found other things that needed to be changed. 

 

"It's just so we can take a step back and I think we've found some gaps," he said. "In working collaboratively, we can fill those and do this more comprehensively."

 

Francesconi had been prepared to table the articles because they had not gone through the Planning Board process.