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Date: 6/1/2022
GRANVILLE – After the Annual Town Meeting slated for May 9 was postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak among town officials, voters in Granville will decide on a series of articles at 7 p.m. on June 6 in the Granville Village School building.
The first major article is a vote on the town’s proposed fiscal year 2023 budget of $2,126,840: $841,136 for general government, $454,459 for public safety, $757,244 for public works, and $74,001 for culture, recreation, and conservation. Town Administrator Matthew Streeter said that one increase in the budget is from the Fire Department, which is seeking to hire a deputy EMS chief with a $56,000 line item. Fuel and energy costs, as is being seen in every community during budget season, are also driving up parts of the budget.
Article 3 would spend $1,954,108 for the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District’s required local minimum contribution, which each of the three towns in the district are required to fund.
Article 4 would accept part of the $200,000 in debt incurred in fiscal year 2022 by the regional school district for the Southwick Regional School east student parking lot paving.
Article 15 would spend $250,000 to purchase an 18-acre property at 144 Barnard Rd. to build a Department of Public Works garage. The current highway garage, at 69 Old Westfield Rd., was built sometime in the 1940s, and is in need of replacement. Streeter said no decisions have been made on what will be done with the current garage.
Article 16 would spend $24,264 as Granville’s 5 percent share of a new engine for the Fire Department. The rest of the cost would be borne by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Article 17 would spend $25,000 on the existing 911 communications link between Granville and Northampton’s regional dispatch center to upgrade the infrastructure for the dispatch system between the two communities.
Article 18 would spend $25,000 on tree maintenance and cutting, using funds from the current year’s budget, so that crews can begin cutting immediately.
Article 19 would deposit $100,000 into the capital projects stabilization account.
Article 20 would use $35,000 in free cash left over from the previous budget to lower the town’s tax rate.
Article 22 would spend $20,000 in Community Preservation money – $10,000 each from the historic preservation account and the undesignated account – to preserve, restore, and stabilize historic grave markers in the Main Road and Northwest cemeteries.
Article 23 would spend $12,500 from the budget reserve account of the Community Preservation Fund to remove and dispose of floor tiles and adhesive mastic that are likely to contain asbestos in the basement of the Granville Public Library.
Article 24 would insert a section on accessory agricultural uses to the Granville zoning bylaws, as recommended by the Planning Board. The bylaw is intended to promote opportunities for Granville farmers to diversify their operations and work with other local businesses.