DALTON, Mass. — Voters at the annual town meeting on Monday, May 6, will decide 22 articles, including articles on sidewalks and the authorization of a number of spending articles, including an approximate $22 million budget. 

 

The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at Wahconah Regional High School. Town meeting documents can be found here.

 

A little more than a dozen voters attended the nearly two-hour town meeting information session on Monday. 

 

"That budget is going up about 8 percent from what it was last year. Sounds like a lot, it is a lot, the majority of that is coming from increases in insurance, and schools, and other things the town does not have direct control over," Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson said.

 

"So, the actual town increase is a little under 4 percent. Everything else we're at the mercy of outside forces."

 

Of the $22 million budget, $10,537,044 is the assessment for the Central Berkshire Regional School District and about $10 million is the town operating budget.

 

"Last year, that part of the budget went up 10 percent. So, we're going in the right direction. It's not as low as we'd necessarily like to see, but I think both the Select Board and the Finance Committee did a great job this year of trimming away where they could," Hutcheson said. 

 

The town will vote on whether to transfer $600,000 from free cash to the following stabilization accounts, $250,000 to capital stabilization, $250,000 to sewer stabilization, and $100,000 for general stabilization. 

 

Finance Committee Chair William Drosehn said during the information session that the town's general stabilization is $927,439, capital stabilized stabilization is $1,047,983, and sewer stabilization is $691,451. 

 

According to the town report, the balances as of June 30 for the following stabilizations are: general stabilization is $920,169.78, capital stabilization is $1,085,734.65, and sewer stabilization is $686,031.36. 

 

Town meeting voters have to approve moving funds any stabilization vote and it requires a two-thirds majority vote, Drosehn said. 

 

"But we do indeed have healthy stabilization in the town. That actually produces, I guess, a healthy town so that if we go into borrowing or anything of that nature, it gives us a good look and lower interest rates when needed," he said.

 

"We've had our borrowing as a minimum this year. We do have some but it's a small amount. But the town of Dalton uses a mix of stabilization, free cash and borrowing to kind of make things happen." 

 

What this method does is help the town reduce the overall tax rate by extending the larger expenses over a longer period of time, he said.  

 

Articles 11 and 16 request that the town transfer $70,000 from Sewer Stabilization to pay the city of Pittsfield for additional sewer treatment costs and $302,077 for various purchases, including a new cruiser for the Police Department, a new pickup truck for the department of public works, and a sidewalk and road paver. 

 

One concern brought up by voter Cheryl Rose was that the purchase of the police cruiser does not follow the fuel-efficient vehicle policy.

 

The policy was adopted by the Select Board in 2014 and requires the town to "purchase only fuel-efficient vehicles for municipal use whenever such vehicles are commercially available and practicable." Police cruisers are listed as one of the exceptions in the policy. 

 

The purchase of a sidewalk and road paver was another hot topic, especially because it is related to Article 1, which is to amend the town bylaw to make concrete sidewalks the standard. 

 

During the information session, the petitioner for Article 1, Todd Logan, presented why he believes concrete should be the standard. He cited the material's longer lifespan and environmental sustainability, among other things that he has emphasized at a number of meetings. More on sidewalks here. 

 

Department of Public Works Superintendent Edward "Bud" Hall also clarified that the sidewalk paver is not just for sidewalks but can be used for pretty much every department under the Department of Public Works, including parks, cemetery, and roads.

 

There are walkways in the cemetery that can be repaired with the paver. The town rented a paver when they installed a path at Pinegrove Park, and it can be used for the other parks so pathways can be installed in the new Americans with Disabilities tables, he said. 

 

The device goes 6 feet wide and down a foot so the DPW can repair roads in patches, do a trench across the road, and repair a broken road after a sewer line repair, among other things, Hall said. 

 

"When it comes to a piece of equipment like this, I've always advocated for our highway. Many of you may know that I formerly worked for the Department of Transportation, I have to say when it comes to repair of our highways, if we stay on top of patches, and there's a whole process that goes along with these patches, this machine will be pretty indispensable in doing patches," Drosehn said.

 

The town is not going to pave roadways but the purchase of this paver would save the town money in the long run in comparison to the cost of doing it by hand, he said. 

 

"The amount it costs to put two people on a road and trucks hauling material into that and then tapping it by hand," Drosehn said. 

 

"Seems pretty cost ineffective when you can use a piece of machinery that costs as little as $63,000 to purchase to go and do a patch of road say, for instance 100 feet long."

 

Also on the warrant is to vote on whether to approve the Central Berkshire Regional School District's regional agreement. 

 

The document revises the 2008 version to bring it up to date with state law and how the district is currently run. 

 

For the last two years, the district has been working with a consultant from the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools to update the agreement. 

 

The agreement was updated to comply with state law and clarify how the seven towns can vote on capital projects. The agreement states that the decision on how a capital project is voted on is determined by the school committee and can be made by popular vote or town by town, Select Board chair Joe Diver said. 

 

It was recently sent to the state and was returned with additional revisions surrounding how a town can withdraw from the district and to improve the language in an effort to make it more understandable as a reference document, MARS consultant Jay Barry said during the school committee meeting last week. 

 

When a town decides to exit the district, it has to pay what it owes to the district in other post-employment benefits liability, School Committee member Richard Lacatell said during the information session. 

 

Also included in the warrant is Article 19, whether to approve the transfer of free cash to cover the cost of a range of projects, initiatives, and equipment including funds for final engineering work for the Orchard Road reconstruction, updated computer hardware for the town manager's office, design and installation of heating pumps for the third floor of town hall, funds for repainting the Fitch-Hoose House, among other things. 

 

One item included in Article 19, was the engineering and design for the transfer station renovation and upgrade. 

 

The transfer station is in need of renovation because the concrete blocks in front of the trash and recycling are crumbling and the shed is not in good condition, Hall said. 

 

The study would provide a cost estimate for designing a transfer station that has all of the functions that the town wishes to implement now or in the future. 

 

The study will look into the best design of the building to not only make it safer but also organize it in the way that best meets the town's needs. More on the transfer station here. 

 

"I was against the town taking over the transfer station number one, and now I added up the figures that are on this paper, and it comes to $97,000 that we're going to put into the transfer station this year," voter Jean Gingras said. 

 

Gingras asked what the town has been getting back in revenue since taking over. Officials did not have that information available during the information session, as it goes to the town accountant, who was not present during the meeting. 

 

Another item listed in Article 19 was the inclusion of the condemned housing fund for $20,000. The fund is early in development but proposes establishing a program that aids residents facing condemnation. More on the fund here. 

 

During the meeting, Drosehn attempted to inform residents of the finance committee's recommendation for the condemned house fund but was interrupted by Diver, who said debate on any articles has to wait until the town meeting on Monday, May 6. 

 

In a follow-up with iBerkshires, Drosehn said during its last meeting the finance committee did not recommend including this fund in the warrant because of how early on the process is. 

 

The details surrounding the cost of an initiative like this and how it would work should be finalized before funds are appropriated for it, he said.