WHATELY — The first three warrant articles slated for a special town meeting Monday night involve housekeeping matters pertaining to the town government’s new home at 4 Sandy Lane.
Adoption of the three articles, all recommended by the Whately Selectboard and the Finance Committee, would OK $21,900 for maintenance of the office building that once housed the Western Massachusetts Regional Library. Monday’s meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. All articles require a majority vote for adoption.
Article 1 asks residents if they wish to spend $9,940 for expenses related to the upgrade of the town office building’s heating, ventilation and air-conditioning software. Article 2 pertains to $8,000 for meeting room chairs, tables and furnishings in the building and adoption of Article 3 would generate $3,960 for roof repairs.
The town purchased the building from the Massachusetts Library System for $810,000 in October 2015, and there is discussion about moving the South County EMS medical service from South Deerfield into about half the facility.
The annual town meeting is slated for April as always. Town Administrator Mark A. Pruhenski said the special town meeting is being held for expeneses not previously budgeted for in Fiscal Year 2016.
“Last year, when we did FY16 budget, we hadn’t committed to purchasing the building yet,” he said.
The final five warrant articles are associated with the Whately Water Department and will affect only those who pay water user fees. Pruhenski said Article 12, which would transfer $16,400 from the Water Department Enterprise Fund Retained Earnings, would pay off debt accrued from water meter installations approved last year.
He said Article 15 is related to the same project, but pertains to the $11,000 needed to pay an overage.
Adoption of Article 13 would designate $15,000 from the same fund to pay for the filtration, testing and engineering necessary to reduce the level of manganese — a black, brittle metallic element — in the town’s water supply. Test results taken from Whately’s two wells in April and June of 2014 registered between 0.34 and 0.35 milligrams, and thus the town fell out of compliance, although the amount of manganese in the town’s water supply and its general composition have not changed. Water Commissioner George Bucala previously said the water meets federal, but not state, requirements.
Pruhenski said adoption of Article 14 would mean water users agree to spend $1,650 to finance an excavation needed for a water line repair. The $6,500 up for a vote in Article 16 would cover the additional unforeseen cost that resulted in Water Superintendent Bill Smith’s retirement. Wayne Hutkoski has replaced Smith.
The largest potential expense in the special warrant comes from Article 4, which asks residents for $26,939 to restore the balance of the Elementary School Circuit Breaker Grant Account.
You can reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 257. On Twitter, follow @DomenicPoli