CUMINGTON — Voters at annual Town Meeting Friday will decide whether to replace the town’s trash compactor, acquire a new truck body for a Highway Department vehicle, and buy firefighter turnout gear and new software for the Police Department.
Finance Committee Chairman Dennis Forgea said that the town is not looking at any big-ticket items this year.
The Board of Health is asking for $26,000 to replace the trash compactor, the software for the Police Department is $8,000 and the truck body for the Highway Department is $21,000. The Fire Department is asking for $4,000 for two sets of turnout gear.
Forgea said that the town’s budget for fiscal 2019 is $2,351,575, which is up by $148,396 from last fiscal year.
He said the increase is in part due to a jump in the vocational school budget, veterans benefits and town health insurance costs for full-time employees.
Forgea also noted the budget is down for the Central Berkshire Regional School District, as fewer students from Cummington are attending school in that district, but enrollment is up for Cumminton students at the Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School. The effect of these changes means an increase in the town’s vocation school budget.
“The Central Berkshire school budget is down, because we have less students going there this year, but we have more students at the vocational school so that is up by $20,000,” Forgea said.
“Our town medical insurance is up by $30,000,” he said.
Selectman Russell (Kip) Sears said the rest of the warrant is “pretty straight forward.”
Voters will also see a non-binding resolution that calls on the United States to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first, ending the president’s sole, unchecked authority to launch a nuclear attack. The resolution calls for pursuit of a verifiable agreement among nuclear armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
A special Town Meeting will take place prior to the annual meeting at 6:30 p.m. to see if voters will approve $35,000 for the last payment on the refurbishing of the trash compactor site.
The annual Town Meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at the Cummington Community House, 33 Main St.