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Date: 5/18/2022
GRANBY – A total budget of $19.9 million was approved during the May 9 Granby Annual Town Meeting with two of the biggest allocations of funds going to two separate projects for the schools.
The first of the two voted was to see if the town would allocate $1.3 million for the purpose of funding the renovation of the Granby Junior-Senior High School gymnasium HVAC and the expansion of the boys and girls locker rooms. A 62-18 vote gave approval to the warrant by majority, but that came after much discussion surrounding the source of the funds.
When opened to the public, one resident asked members of the Selectboard and the Finance Committee as well as Town Administrator Christopher Martin why the funding for this project could not come from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds instead of town dollars. Martin said at this point the town had yet to designate the remaining use of the $1.9 million in ARPA funding so it had not been in consideration.
One resident suggested that the use of ARPA funds should have been considered more to save taxpayers money. Another resident asked why the town would allocate these large funds to the schools when they are considering taking the necessary steps in developing a new school building in the future.
According to comments made by Superintendent Stephen Sullivan in the past month regarding this request, Granby Junior-Senior High School serves as the town shelter in the event of an emergency. In order to meet the standards needed to be the town shelter, there must be operating showers and proper heating. The last time the town used the school building for an emergency shelter was during the October snowstorm in 2011.
Resident Kelly Boiler, a parent of two students at the school, expressed frustration about the “nickel and dime” repairs that the school choses to do instead of looking for a permanent solution in a new school building that she said was asked from residents over 10 years ago.
“We are in a position now where we are being asked to fix pieces instead of the whole school,” Boiler said. “Unfortunately, it feels like a waste of money, but this is where we are at.”
The article was ultimately approved by majority. The following article was the second request from schools, seeking $1.05 million to renovate Granby Junior-Senior High School kitchen and cafeteria rooms to be expanded on. The current space lacks the proper airflow for the space and was deemed inoperable for this current school year.
Currently, all meals for the school are prepared each morning at the East Meadow Middle School kitchen and brought over to the high school and served to students. With the renovation of the kitchen, it would not only solve these current problems but also give the shelter space the proper kitchen operations if needed in an emergency.
Without much further discussion, this project for the school department was also voted and approved by a 64-16 majority vote.
Later in the meeting when discussing the overall budget, John Libera from the Finance Committee put it bluntly when describing the state of the town moving forward after establishing this year’s budget.
“We’re worried,” Libera said. “We have been spending money we really didn’t have.”
Libera continued and described how going through the coronavirus pandemic, inflation on the rise and moving through the town’s free cash funds and stabilization funds have put them in a position more strapped for cash than wanted. Libera said all this as a reminder for anyone interested in a new school building that it would “undoubtedly” take a property tax increase.
“Building something else will take a lot of effort, work and agreement from people in town to raise property taxes to pay for renovation and a new building,” Libera said. “Operating costs are escalating, reaching a point where at this rate in seven years we will run out of money in the stabilization funds. It’s a town-wide problem, not just schools or other departments. Three to four years there will be a major crisis for us unless we start working on this now, we cannot solve this problem overnight.”
Another article of note that was approved by the town was $305,000 for a new street sweeper for the town. Highway Superintendent David Desrosiers spoke to the town on behalf of the request and explained that this purchase would help solve the issue of trying to hire a third-party street sweeping company to come into Granby and do the work.
“Lately especially we are forced to sweep two times a year,” Desrosiers said. “Contractors are out there and everyone is trying to get sweeping done in a narrow window. To do an efficient job [in Granby], the whole town takes two nights. It’s ridiculously hard to get someone in that small window.”
He added that this would eliminate the burden of relying on a contractor to do the job and would allow for the town to take care of the responsibility itself. Desrosiers said if they can’t get things done in a timely manner, then it delays other responsibilities, and the new street sweeper would help avoid that.
The vote needed a two-thirds requirement and reached it in a final vote of 57-20.
Another noteworthy article that was approved through a two-thirds vote was $399,575 to purchase a new ambulance. The vehicle being replaced will be auctioned off or traded and is currently six years old.
Before the vote, one resident raised the concern that the current ambulance was still in quality condition and did not need to be replaced yet. According to Martin, in discussions he had with the interim fire chief he was told it takes two years following approval to go through the process of acquiring the new ambulance.
“The current one is six years old, will be eight by the time we make the purchase,” Martin said. “It will be near its prime at that point. The ambulance runs eight years then becomes expensive to maintain through parts and maintenance.”
Other noteworthy proposals voted through by the town were $36,440 to the Fire Department for new hydraulic rescue tools, $59,000 for a new car for the fire chief, $47,458 to purchase a tractor for the Public Buildings Department and $56,362 for a new marked cruiser for the Police Department.
The town also voted to approve $57,000 to fund the tuition of Smith Vocational Agricultural High School students. This money will serve as the tuition for three students coming to the school for their agricultural program, something that Pathfinder School does not offer.