Fire station proposal back on Swanzey ballot [The Keene Sentinel, N.H.]

Feb. 1—SWANZEY — Voters on Tuesday can weigh in on this year's town warrant articles before casting their votes in March. And for the sixth time since 2016, a new fire station is on the ballot.

Swanzey's annual deliberative session is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Whitcomb Hall at 17 Main St.

Here's a look at what's on the warrant:

Budget proposal: $7,961,500. That's up $536,500, or about 7 percent, from the $7,425,000 budget voters approved last year. In addition to general inflation driving costs up, Town Administrator Michael Branley said the main contributors to the budget increase are Swanzey's debt service for the Upper Wilson pond Dam Project, more elections this year, a 15 percent health insurance premium increase, the hiring of a third full-time employee at the recycling center and the need for a dedicated Human Resources Coordinator. Currently, he noted that position splits its duties between human resources and human services.

The default budget, which goes into effect if voters reject the operating budget proposal in March, is $7,468,834.

Fire station: Town officials have put forth a $4.5 million proposal for a new fire station to be constructed at 321 Old Homestead Highway (Route 32). Of this sum, Swanzey is asking $150,000 from taxes, $200,000 from grants, $150,000 from the town's undesignated fund balance, and $4 million through bonds.

Three of the past five times a similar proposal has been brought before voters, the fire station received a simple majority, but failed to meet the three-fifths majority required to pass.

Branley said the last few fire station bond articles received about 55 percent support, just shy of the necessary 60 percent. He hopes this year will be different.

"We are using grant funds not previously available to help offset the cost to taxpayers," Branley wrote in an email to a reporter Thursday. "We hope the voters support this smaller station proposal so we can get the fire station out of [Town Hall]," Branley wrote in an email Thursday.

In 2022, the town proposed raising $200,000 in taxes for a new station, as opposed to the $150,000 being recommended this time.

The fire department has outgrown its station in the Town Hall basement, Branley said. The facility, which dates back to the 1960s, does not meet health and life safety code requirements, he added, and its limited size presents challenges to the fire department.

"Modern fire trucks barely fit through the doors, under the ceiling, and between the columns in between the three truck bays," Branley said. "The firefighters' lockers and gear are in the truck bays with the diesel exhaust from the trucks."

This proposal, recommended by the selectboard, will also require a supermajority.

Last year the town did not request funding for the construction of a new fire station.

A separate article seeks to appropriate $300,000 to the fire stations capital reserve fund, with $150,000 from taxes and the rest from the town's undesignated fund balance. If the aforementioned proposal for a new fire station passes, this article will be stricken.

Other warrant articles: Residents will also weigh in on an article that asks to raise $1,110,000 to reconstruct North Winchester Street and the portion of California Street east of Route 10. The town is proposing raising $805,000 through bonds, with the remaining $305,000 coming from a grant with the Northern Border Regional Commission.

Of the bonding, the town expects $181,000 to be a forgivable loan and $624,000 to be a low interest loan from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. This article requires a three-fifths majority to pass.

In another article, Swanzey is requesting $500,000 through bonds to construct a solar array for the town's wastewater collection system and making other energy efficiency changes, while another proposal seeks $100,000 in bonds to fund a comprehensive facility planning study for the wastewater collection system. Both articles require a three-fifths vote to pass.

Town officials are calling for raising about $1.1 million in taxes to be placed in the town's various expendable trust and capital reserve accounts.

Hunter Oberst can be reached at 355-8546, or hoberst@keenesentinel.com.

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