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Sunday, December 04, 2011
Quick Article Index . . .
Special Town Meeting will address funding PCB
remediation.
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Special Town Meeting will address funding PCB
remediation. Costs
may exceed $3.2 million; seven other articles increase town spending. EverythingWestport.com Tuesday, December 06, 2011 And
then there were eight. Registered
Westport voters will be asked to address eight town warrant articles in
Tuesday, December 6th's Special Town Meeting. The meeting will start at 7:00
p.m. in the Westport High School's auditorium. The
Special Town Meeting was originally scheduled to handle the short term
borrowing necessary to pay for the Westport Middle School PCB financing, but
seven other articles were quickly added; among those were articles to address
the transfer and housekeeping of needed funds to pay bills and replenish the stabilization fund to improve the town's ability
to obtain lending at reasonable rates. The
original one-article warrant having quickly grown to eight prompted Selectman
Vice Chair Craig Dutra to blurt out that "It's mind boggling the amount
of stuff being added to this warrant." The
Special Town Meeting, originally scheduled to address the issue of the $3.2
million PCB remediation costs at the Westport Middle School, now has almost
$400,000 added in additional spending, $110,760 alone just for the Highway
Department's purchase of new equipment. Click here to review the Special Town Meeting Warrant articles. ARTICLE 1 - Asks for
monies to be transferred from free cash to cover expenses for Veterans'
personal services (budgeted too low) and to cover added expenses for
returning Iraqi veterans. Also asks for monies to cover a part-time animal
control officer position and additional expenses. $3000 is also being
requested for a new town hall fire alarm system. Total: $118,400. ARTICLE 2 - Requests $79,727.29 to cover outstanding bills.
ARTICLE 3 - The Highway
Department is requesting three new trucks with plows. This article is not
receiving the support of the Finance Committee. Total: $110,760. ARTICLE 4 - A new
computerized sign-making machine is requester for the Highway department at a
cost of $9,500. ARTICLE 5 - Hurricane
Irene expenses in the total amount of $61,035.98
will be approved for several town departments if this article is passed. Most or all of those costs will be reimbursed by the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, Selectmen Chairman Richard Spirlet said. The
Finance Committee is not recommending this article. ARTICLE
7
- The School Department is asking for authorization to borrow $3.2 million to pay for PCB
remediation efforts at the Westport Middle School. The
Article, if accepted, will authorize the short-term borrowing of $3.2 million
which the school district will have to pay back out of its budget at a rate
of $400,000 per year over 10 years. This
IS NOT a Proposition 2 1/2 override, or a debt exclusion article that would
add to the taxpayers' property tax bill. Both
School Superintendent Dr. Carlos Colley and School Committee Chairwoman
Michelle Duarte have publicly stated that if this article fails the district
will have to close the schools months before the end of the school year. "This
($3.2 million PCB remediation cost) is a town problem, not just a school
problem," Selectman Antone Vieira has stated
in the past. ARTICLE
8
- This article was added at the last minute to raise and appropriate and/or
transfer $250,000 to the town's stabilization fund, primarily to improve the
town's financial standing in the eyes of lenders. Money can be transferred
back to free cash, but it would require a 2/3 vote at town meeting, not an
easy process. This article is supported by the Board of Selectmen and the
Finance Committee. - - - - - End - - - - - ©
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