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Date: 5/1/2023
GRANBY — Two avenues of the democratic process once again approach Granby with Town Meeting on May 8 and town election the following week on May 15.
This year’s Town Meeting warrant has 27 articles to be voted on by Town Meeting members and has a wide variety of projects or purchases looking to be funded.
One article of note when looking down the 2023 Town Meeting warrant is article 3 which is a vote to see if the town will spend $50,000 for the purpose of funding the repair of the play structure located at Dufresne Park. The Selectboard moved last August to temporarily close the playground due to unsafe conditions in need of repair.
In an August 2022 Selectboard meeting, the board received feedback from Building Maintenance Supervisor Jeremy Carriere who brought in an independent party to assess the conditions of the playground. Carriere expressed that many of the issues found with the play structure area was due to the foundation on which it sits.
Article 4 focuses on improving school safety measures as the vote will see if the town will spend $35,735 for the purpose of funding the upgrading of the security camera server and DVR, installation of a fob reader and handicap button on the main entrance door at the Junior Senior High School. Article 5 also looks to improve on the high school as the vote will decide if the town spends $38,230 to fund the replacement of classroom projectors.
Potential new additions in public safety will be voted on in articles 6 through 9 starting with a vote for the town to spend $65,000 to fund the purchase of brush truck equipment upgrades for the Fire Department. Article 7 also looks to approve the spending of $236,500 to purchase of self-contained breathing apparatus for the Fire Department.
Article 8 and 9 are votes to purchase a marked and an unmarked cruiser for the Police Department. The marked cruiser would cost the town $67,262 while the unmarked cruiser would cost $60,152.
One of the larger amounts of money being voted on through this year’s Town Meeting is article 10 which looks for the town to vote on spending $105,000 for the purpose of a vacuum truck for the Highway Department.
Other articles of note on the remainder of the warrant include votes to approve $50,000 to fund tree removals, $60,228 for funding of tuition for Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School students, $539,346 to operate the municipal waste department, $251,321 to operate the sewer department and $421,782 to operate the ambulance department.
Town Meeting will take place on Monday, May 8 at the East Meadow School gymnasium at 7 p.m. Town Meeting members are asked to park between the two schools near the softball field.
Annual Town Election
Granby’s annual town election will be the week after Town Meeting as polls will be open Monday, May 15 from 9 a.m. through 7 p.m. at Granby Junior Senior High School.
The only contested race in this year’s town election is for an open three-year term on the Selectboard. Incumbent Glen Sexton is running for reelection against Nathaniel Masse. Sexton has served on the board since being elected in 2017 and is currently chair. This would be his third term on the board if reelected.
The School Committee will see two members as Audrey Siudak and Stephanie Parent are not seeking reelection. Running uncontested for one of the two new open seats is Michael Durham for a three-year term. With him being the only candidate to fill two positions, the School Committee would begin their next term with a vacant seat, unless a candidate runs a write in campaign.
Running to complete the remaining two years of the three-year term he was appointed to last year is George Bahlke. Bahlke was appointed by the Selectboard and School Committee after last year’s election because the person who was elected had resigned. Now Bahlke seeks official election to the committee to serve out the remainder of the three-year term.
Three library trustee incumbents are the three candidates running for the positions available for the group. Nita Abbot, Paula Lapite and Kathryn Mercier all look for reelection in the uncontested race. Gregg Leonard is running for reelection as town assessor unopposed, as is Richard Bombardier for the Board of Health.
The last day to apply for an “Early Voting/Absentee Voting Ballot by Mail” is Monday, May 8 by 5 p.m. Any applications received after that day and time will be rejected. For more information in applying residents can contact the town clerk’s officer or visit the town website.
The last day to file for an absentee ballot is Friday, May 12 at 5 p.m. at the town clerk’s office.