WESTHAMPTON — Voters on Saturday will choose between Maureen Dempsey and Judy Madzunovic to fill a three-year term on the Select Board and decide whether to authorize a $135,000 debt override to pay for a bucket loader for the Highway Department.
Polls for the annual election will be open from 8 a.m. to noon at Town Hall.
The purchase of a new bucket loader for a 12-year-old vehicle is contingent on voters approving a Proposition 2½ override. It is the sole question on the ballot.
In the town’s only contested election, Dempsey and Madzunovic are competing to fill the seat being vacated by James Huston, the chairman of the Select Board, who decided not to seek re-election. Cheryl Provost, town administrative assistant, said the race is likely to draw a good turnout at the polls.
Madzunovic has been active in public hearings and town forums and, at the May 12 Town Meeting, spoke against a petition supporting legislation that would stop public funds being used for immigration enforcement.
Dempsey is a member of the Library Trustees, Agricultural Commission and Capital Planning Committee. She manages Intervale Farms with her husband, Rick Tracy, and has been a resident of Westhampton for 35 years.
She said her involvement in town affairs has given her a good understanding of town government. Huston’s decision not to run nudged her to go for the seat.
“It looks like there’s a need, so I decided to run,” she said. “I think this is a wonderful community to live in and it’s important to me to serve in some fashion, to be part of the community.”
She said she supports the override to help pay for a new bucket loader because it could be used for proposed renovations or construction of a new public safety complex for the police and fire departments. Paying for the bucket loader now would help keep costs down for the future when the town makes a decision on the public safety complex, she said. Officials say the complex is in need of major upgrades to meet safety standards.
Madzunovic could not be reached for comment.
Town Meeting is scheduled to reconvene on June 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall for voters to decide on remaining proposed fiscal 2019 budget items, which are: vocational tuition, information technology infrastructure upgrades for the Town Hall and Annex, Assessors Field Conversion, gas storage tanks removal/installation, transfers from free cash, and transfer to the capital stabilization fund.