HADLEY — Voters Thursday overwhelmingly approved a Proposition 2 1/2 override to pay for a new roof on the Public Safety Complex and a backhoe for the Department of Public Works.
The roof was approved 176-59, while the backhoe passed 169-66 in the special election. Ballots were cast by 236 people, about 7 percent of the town’s registered voters.
Town Administrator David Nixon said by phone Thursday evening that the successful override means voters approved $205,000 in town borrowing.
The backhoe will cost the average single-family household about $11.40 in additional taxes over the next five years, while the roof will cost about $4.18 per single-family household over the next 10 years, he said.
“I’m very pleased to hear the results of the election and I thank the voters for their generosity,” Nixon said. “These two projects are very important for us.”
Department of Public Works Director Marlo Warner II said Thursday that the current backhoe is a 1996 model and because the machines are built to last between 15 and 17 years, it no longer makes sense to sink money into it.
“It’s actually cost the town quite a lot of money in the past two to three years,” he said.
Though pleased with the vote, Select Board member Donald Pipczynski said the voter turnout was “disappointing.”
“It’s unreal,” he said. “I don’t know what it takes to get people to do their duty.”
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.