NORTHFIELD — Voters will decide on protecting a clean water source for the town, as well as buying a new ambulance and making three elected positions appointed at the annual town meeting Monday.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the Pioneer Valley Regional School.
In addition to the annual budget, voters will decide if they should borrow around $250,000 to replace a 1993 Ford F350 ambulance, and whether the positions of town clerk, treasurer and tax collector should be appointed by the Selectboard. Also, the town will be asked to OK $100,000 to purchase land for continued drinking water supply.
The proposed budget, if passed, will raise last year’s budget by about 0.9 percent, from $7.84 million to $7.91 million.
Several capital requests are also on the warrant, including a thermal imager for the Fire Department for $8,000, a new cruiser for the Police Department for $45,000 and continue to replace wiring in Town Hall for $100,000.
The land for the water supply will be purchased from the Northfield Mount Hermon School, and encompasses about 300 acres. The water currently supplies several households in East Northfield, as well as the vacant NMH campus, with potable water.
“If anything happens to that water supply, then NMH becomes uninhabitable,” Brian Noble, town administrator, said. Since NMH closed the campus and consolidated to its Gill campus in 2005, several attempts have been made to find a new user for the property.
Noble said that now is the time to buy the land, before the cost is too high.
“We need to purchase the land to save the watershed, and it’s a bargain right now,” Noble said.
As for the potential new ambulance, the vehicle would be replacing an F350 fraught with issues. These include not starting without a jump, wiring and electrical issues, and lights going out. So far these issues have not complicated patient care or transport, but Noble said that it is not worth risking.
The three positions potentially being moved from elected to appointed — town treasurer, town clerk and tax collector — are jobs that have become increasingly technical over the years, according to Noble.
“My concern is we’ve had great people in those positions, but if they screw up it’s catastrophic,” Noble said.
Town Clerk Dan Campbell also felt that the positions should be appointed, not only to avoid catastrophe but to continue productivity. He said that those who are appointed will have known qualifications, while someone elected may have none.
“There’s a lot I do as town clerk,” Campbell said. “I do elections, vital records — there’s no way someone comes in with the expertise so they would lose a year or two of service if someone new gets elected.”
Additional articles up to vote are:
The purchase of a new cardiac monitor for the ambulance service from the EMS Enterprise Fund.
Finishing the sewer treatment facility cover using money from the Sewer Enterprise Fund.
Tree work in town cemeteries for $9,000, with money from the Cemetery Sale of Lots Fund.
Approve spending $78,000 for project on the Northfield Elementary and Fire Department buildings.
OK a paving project for Pioneer Valley Regional School (PVRS). The committee recommends $12,475 be spent, but PVRS is requesting $95,060.
Allow $11,300 from the Community Preservation Fund be spent to repair historical buildings in town, purchase a fireproof storage cabinet for historical documents and advertisements for the historic barns in the town.