BELCHERTOWN — A late bump in state aid has left Belchertown with an unusual question for special Town Meeting on Monday: how to spend an extra $340,896.
When the state budget came out of conference committee in late August, Belchertown received more than $500,000 above previous estimates. Of that amount, $161,675 in school choice funds will go directly to the School Department, but residents will decide where the remaining balance goes.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, residents will be asked to approve expanding the types of businesses allowed in the town’s industrial districts, including sporting facilities, movie theaters and commercial complexes.
The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at Belchertown High School, 142 Springfield Road. Families with children ages 4-12 can sign up for free childcare at the Little Voters Lounge.
As for the unanticipated money, the Select Board is recommending the town use $151,000 to pay for four capital projects also on the warrant, while the remaining $189,896 would go into the stabilization fund.
One of the capital items involves public safety. The Police Department is requesting $34,000 to purchase radios for six police cruisers. The new radios are compatible with radio system upgrades scheduled for installation early next year. Town Administrator Steve Williams told the Select Board at a Sept. 28 meeting that the department cannot drive the cars without the radios.
In the School Department, heating systems have become a concern. A burner in one of Jabish Brook Middle School’s boilers has reached the end of its life. Superintendent Brian Cameron expressed interest in replacing it at an Oct. 5 Select Board meeting, ideally before freezing weather sets in. Town Meeting will be asked to approve the estimated $25,000 for the new burner.
The schools are also requesting $50,000 for the ongoing water system project at the Belchertown athletics fields. The project’s two wells will funnel water into large storage tanks for field irrigation. However, the size and weight of the storage tanks require extra support. The funds would pay for materials and engineering costs of a concrete foundation for the tanks.
The final capital item is a $42,000 classification and compensation study to update job descriptions and salary levels for each municipal position. Williams told the Select Board on Oct. 5 that the current rankings are heavily outdated, which impairs the town’s competitiveness in the job market. According to the enhanced special Town Meeting warrant, Belchertown has not updated its classifications since 2012.
New types of businesses
In continuing efforts to bolster economic development, Town Meeting attendees will consider zoning changes that would allow 13 new types of businesses on Harris Way, off Springfield Road and at the south end of town. The warrant said the changes could open development in a handful of vacant spots.
Parking garages and commercial mixed-use developments, like office buildings or health clinics, would be allowed by special permit. Other uses, like indoor sporting facilities and restaurants, would only require Planning Board approval. None of these are currently approved by right.
Most of the other warrant articles are housekeeping items. The Department of Public Works would like to lease mobile radios, and the Council on Aging asks to lease a new van. Both capital requests have already been included in the departments’ budgets.
Two Community Preservation Act requests from May’s annual Town Meeting would be revised or rescinded for clarity. The wording of the article to allocate $283,461 for repairing the Clapp Memorial Library windows would be changed to allow rehabilitation of the windows, which Williams said is much less expensive.
