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Date: 10/26/2023
WILBRAHAM — Wilbraham conducted a Town Meeting on Oct. 23 to consider five warrant articles. Each called for the use of the free cash account, which had a balance of $2.8 million.
Town Moderator James Jurgens was unable to oversee the Town Meeting due to unforeseen circumstances. Town Clerk Carole Tardiff opened the meeting and asked for nominations for a temporary town moderator. Two people — Jane Clark and Jeffrey Smith — were nominated and after a vote, Clark received 43 votes to Smith’s 39 votes.
Articles 1 through 3 sought funding for capital expenses at the high school and were passed by majority vote. Article 1 asked for $100,082 for Wilbraham’s share of a $125,000 heat exchange for one of five boilers at the high school.
Article 2 used $24,019 to pay for the town’s portion of $30,000 worth of air conditioning units in certain classrooms. Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District Assistant Superintendent for Finance, Operations and Human Resources Aaron Osborne explained that the school is not air-conditioned, but climate control is a provision of the individualized education programs for some special education students, which the law requires the district to follow.
Article 3 was approved to use $43,235 for Wilbraham’s share of classroom projectors and monitors, which cost $54,000 in total and will replace outdated equipment that is original to the 12-year-old school.
Article 4 called for an upgraded security camera system at the high school, which would have cost $60,049 for the town’s part of the $75,000 project. The article was dismissed on the floor. Osborne later told Reminder Publishing, “There may be a security grant [available] over the winter months” that can be used to fund the new camera system. The district will apply for the grant and expects to learn if it will be awarded in February or March. If the district does not receive the state grant, the district will need to bring the article back at the 2024 spring Town Meeting.
The final article, which would have reduced the tax rate, was also dismissed. Finance Committee Chair Kevin Hanks explained that last year, money was raised to fund the emergency dispatch system, as the state grant funding that expense was not received until after the budget deadline. The tax reduction sought at the fall Town Meeting returned that money to taxpayers after the receipt of the grant funding.
Hanks said, “Going into this year’s budget process, [the Finance Committee’s] approach was to carve out most of that grant from the budget to begin with, thus not raising the money through taxes that would eventually be returned.”