WHATELY — Voters this week approved the transfer of nearly $27,000 from free cash back into its previous account to pay a special education teacher at Whately Elementary School.
This was among all 16 articles that it took residents less than 40 minutes to adopt at Monday’s special Town Meeting.
Town Administrator Mark A. Pruhenski said $26,939 in excess funds rolled over from the Elementary School Circuit Breaker Grant Account to free cash at the end of the last fiscal year on June 30, 2015, and voters agreed Monday to return it to finance a special education teacher’s salary.
The first three articles involved housekeeping matters pertaining to the town government’s new home at 4 Sandy Lane.
One provided $9,940 for expenses related to the upgrade of the town office building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning software which was completed last week, according to Pruhenski.
Another approved $8,000 for meeting room chairs, tables and furnishings in the building, which the town purchased from the Massachusetts Library System for $810,000 in October 2015. Pruhenski said Whately still leases space back to the regional library system, which will take the current furniture with it after securing a new home.
The $8,000 will purchase 68 chairs and one or two meeting room tables. Select Board Chairman Jonathan Edwards acknowledged that the chairs are expensive. “Chairs aren’t cheap unless you want to get folding metal chairs,” he said.
Voters also approved $3,960 for roof repairs that Pruhenski said include sealing leaks, fixing bent vent stacks and adding snow guards.
Voters also approved $15,000 for electrical upgrades and safety improvements to the highway garage. Highway Superintendent Keith Bardwell said a study determined that the building’s electrical system is outdated and the lighting inside is not bright enough to meet Occupational Health and Safety Administration requirements.
Voters also adopted articles designating the transfer of $50,550 from the Water Department enterprise fund retained earnings. This includes $16,400 to pay off debt accrued from water meter installations approved last year and $11,000 for the installations went over budget.
Another article designates $15,000 for a pilot program to identify the filter that will best reduce the level of manganese — a black, brittle metallic element — in the town’s water supply.
Tests of Whately’s two wells in April and June of 2014 registered between 0.34 and 0.35 milligrams of manganese. The town fell out of compliance with state standards due to changes in the acceptable levels. The amount of manganese in the town’s water supply and its general composition have not changed.