SHUTESBURY — Voters at Saturday’s annual Town Meeting authorized the town to borrow $800,000 for a new fire engine and transfer $5,700 from free cash for a clicker-based voting system for Town Meetings, while also choosing to expand upon the existing Safe Community Bylaw with a new “Shutesbury Protect Bylaw.”
With 320 voters in attendance, the town approved all 33 warrant articles, including a nearly $8.33 million spending plan for fiscal year 2027. The budget includes a $163,981, or 6.3%, increase for the elementary school, bringing the total to $2.76 million in FY27, while Shutesbury’s assessment for the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District is going up by $12,357, a 0.73% increase, to a total of $1.79 million.
Fire truck
Among the articles that inspired the most discussion was the purchase of an $800,000 fire truck to replace Engine 2, a 1996 model.
After current Fire Chief Leonard Czerwonka introduced the proposal, the first person to speak was retired Fire Chief Walter Tibbetts. Although Tibbetts emphasized that he believes “the firefighters should have the best equipment to do their jobs safely and effectively,” he expressed concern that a newer, bigger vehicle would be unable to navigate Shutesbury’s often narrow driveways, and that computer systems in more modern trucks make them more prone to shutting down completely in the event of mechanical failure.
“We designed this truck to be used in town,” Tibbetts said of the current Engine 2, mentioning its shorter wheelbase. Citing a recent fire in North Leverett, Tibbetts added that Engine 2 “performed flawlessly.” “Just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s not any good if it’s maintained properly, and these trucks have been.”
According to Czerwonka, the new truck would be 2 feet longer than the current one, with a wheelbase that is 2.5 feet longer. It would also tote more water, doubling the capacity of Engine 2 from 1,000 gallons to 2,000 gallons.
Deputy Fire Chief Richard Trimble, recounting how he spent hours at the North Leverett fire next to Engine 2 breathing unfiltered diesel, spoke to how a new vehicle would mean increased safety for Shutesbury’s firefighters.
“We need the safest truck we can get,” he said.
Although the possibility of refurbishing Engine 2, at a cost of $400,000 to $500,000, was discussed, Czerwonka said that could mean the department could be without Engine 2 for as long as a year. Trimble added that refurbishment wouldn’t come with a warranty, while a new vehicle would.
After a resident requested using a paper ballot for the vote, the fire truck purchase received the necessary two-thirds majority with 101 votes in favor and 27 votes against.
Clicker-based voting system
Though not as large a dollar amount, the $5,700 request for a new clicker system for Town Meetings generated just as much discussion before ultimately passing by majority.
After Elaine Puleo was called to fill in as moderator to avoid a conflict of interest, Moderator Nettie Harrington Pangallo, the article’s sponsor, explained that Shutesbury will be able to get a credit by trading in the clickers it received from Amherst to Option Technologies Inc., thus reducing the cost of buying an new system, which would be $7,300. The trade-in arrangement also entails a five-year warranty.
Having a clicker system, rather than having Town Meeting members raise their cards, would make it so individual votes are private and would improve transparency by generating an exact percentage for each vote count, Harrington Pangallo said.
“Those who feel in a minority may feel less welcome,” she said of the current system. “My job as moderator is to make sure that every person in here can come in and speak their mind.”
Former Town Clerk Grace Bannasch said although she used to be strongly opposed to a clicker system, as the town should not be dependent on tools if they break, she has had a positive experience with the system in Groton, where she now works. With totally anonymous data, a clicker system means “everyone gets to vote equally.”
“From my very first Town Meeting, I realized I couldn’t vote, because everyone would see how I was voting and after the meeting, they’d come up and yell at me about it,” Bannasch said of her experience in Shutesbury.
She said that a clicker system is becoming the standard as more towns adopt them, and Shutesbury will likely never get a better financial opportunity than it would with the trade-in arrangement. She added that the technology would mean having specific vote counts, “because sometimes that matters.” Bannasch noted that towns sometimes have to hold special Town Meetings to retake a vote after failing to record whether a vote had reached the required two-thirds or simple majority.
Some residents expressed concerns about orienting less tech-savvy people to a new system, potential equipment failure and whether the change made financial sense.
“It creates more systems, more tasks, more things we have to check, more things that can go wrong,” resident Paula Billups commented. “It feels like an unnecessary expense and implementation of a technology for something we can do in an analog way.”
Resident Laura Wall noted an appreciation for knowing how town officials are voting at Town Meeting, as it can help voters decide whether to reelect them.
“I wonder if standing by your convictions would be something that would be eroded with these clickers,” Wall said.
On the other hand, Matteo Pangallo, who is serving as interim town clerk and election administrator, pointed out that Town Meeting has always evolved, whether that has meant allowing women to vote after the 19th Amendment was ratified or posting warrants online.
“We’ve always made changes to make Town Meeting more accessible and more equitable, and this change would allow that,” he said, noting that, “Voting in private means feeling free to vote your conscience.”
‘Shutesbury Protect Bylaw’
Before the meeting was dissolved at 3:52 p.m., the final article, Article 33, inspired two amendments.
Resident Miriam DeFant explained that the citizen’s petition sought to build upon a two-paragraph bylaw that was enacted in 2025 to spell out that town staff, including police, will not enforce federal civil immigration laws unless required by a warrant.
“This bylaw, while great in concept, lacked the details that were needed,” DeFant said of the 2025 pledge, which Gail Fleischaker described as “a clear and short statement of welcome.” However, more than a year into the second Trump administration, DeFant said the town has a better understanding of how immigration enforcement is being carried out.
In particular, DeFant pointed to a portion of the 2025 bylaw that states town officials “may not act as an immigration enforcement officials.” However, the bylaw lacks definitions to spell out what kind of actions would be prohibited, with DeFant arguing that enacting a more thorough bylaw is important “for the community to have trust and for law enforcement to have clarity.”
Although Article 33 originally asked to delete the 2025 bylaw and replace it, voters ultimately decided through amendments that the two bylaws should coexist, retaining the original statement of welcome. Attempting to eliminate confusion, they opted to name the 2026 version the “Shutesbury Protect Bylaw,” after The PROTECT Act on the state level.
Other articles included:
- Using $64,318 in free cash to buy the Highway Department a new Kubota tractor and $10,630 to buy a slide-in sprayer that will go on one of the Highway Department’s dump trucks to help with dust control on dirt roads.
- Using $89,000 in Community Preservation Act funding to buy 9 acres between Wendell and Locks Pond roads to add to the South Brook Conservation Area, with 2 acres offering potential for an affordable housing site.
- Updating the town’s Personnel Bylaw that was last revised in 2006 to add remote/hybrid work options in consideration of modern technology, and to update bereavement, vacation and leave times.
- Using $15,725 from free cash to have a third-party service assist with digitizing physical municipal records.
- Transferring $15,000 from free cash to replace the dividing curtain in the school gymnasium/cafeteria.
- Using $6,000 in free cash to buy two snowblowers that will be used for school walkways and emergency exits at the school, replacing the tractor that has been used.
