HADLEY — A renovation of the aging locker rooms at Hopkins Academy can proceed, but the town will have to hold off on buying a new ladder truck for the Fire Department, following results of the Proposition 2½ debt-exclusion election Tuesday.
The $1.07 million in proposed work on the girls and boys locker rooms, which date to 1965, earned just over 60% support from the 624 voters. The vote was 375-248, with one blank.
But the ladder truck, at $2 million, along with $150,000 that would be used to renovate a current ladder truck and move it to the North Hadley substation, was narrowly defeated, 322-302.
Both had been supported by voters at special Town Meeting in October.
The locker rooms don’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, have limited sight lines, small bathrooms and showers that are no longer used.
The ladder truck eyed was to have a pump and 500-gallon water tank and an extended ladder.
Officials had projected if both passed, an average home assessed at $439,800, the tax impact would be $88 per year and would be complete in 10 years. That impact was based on other items falling off the town’s debt.
— SCOTT MERZBACH