CHESTERFIELD — Residents at Monday’s Town Meeting agreed to dip into the town’s free cash account for $150,000 to fund the engineering and reconstruction of North and Damon Pond roads.
Town Meeting also OK’d spending another $1,980 from free cash to purchase two sets of active shooter body armor kits for the police department, though some residents questioned the need for such a purchase.
Turnout was solid for the annual meeting, with 101 of the 887 registered voters filling the Town Hall.
The proposed $3,651,295 fiscal 2019 budget passed easily, as did most of the 20 articles on the warrant, including $40,000 for the purchase of a pickup truck for the Highway Department, $15,000 for an emergency generator to be installed at the highway garage, and $8,500 for four sets of firefighter turnout gear for the Fire Department.
The two articles that drew the most discussion were requests for the North and Damon Pond road work and the police body armor kits.
Selectman Roger Fuller explained that the road reconstruction project would fix culvert problems and straighten some of the curves in Damon Pond Road.
“The town has to come up with the $150,000 to move the project forward,” he said.
The project will be part of the Transportation Infrastructure Program funded by the state, but the town has to pay for the initial engineering.
Voters expressed concerns about the project in terms of interfering with stone walls and aesthetics, as well as concerns about speed limits increasing once Damon Pond Road was straightened.
Fuller reassured voters that speed limits would not increase and that concerns about aesthetics and other matters could be addressed once an engineering firm is hired and hearings are held on the issue.
Police Chief Edward Murray fielded several questions from voters about the need for active shooter armor, which he said consisted of a ceramic helmet and two ceramic plates protecting the front and back of an officer.
“I want myself and officers to be safe,” he said. “Protecting the school is a big concern and we can’t do that if something happens to us.”
Murray said that most surrounding towns already have this equipment. The chief said that ideally he would like all eight of Chesterfield’s officers to be equipped with active shoot armor, but that he was trying to be realistic about budget constraints.
He explained that each of the town’s two cruisers would carry the armor.
Voters also approved the establishment of a speed limit of 25 mph in thickly settled areas or business districts, and creating “safety zones” with speed limits of 20 mph, as well as placing a 3 percent excise tax on recreational marijuana sold by any vendor that may come to town.