SOUTH DEERFIELD — South County Senior Center could soon have a new building.
Residents officially accepted South Deerfield Congregational Church’s donated North Main Street building at Monday night’s annual town meeting — opening up the possibility of a new senior center and possibly affordable housing.
If all goes as planned, town officials want to convert the senior center’s current building into affordable senior housing.
The town overwhelmingly voted in favor of accepting the gift, following a speech that moved the otherwise relatively quiet auditorium at Frontier Regional School.
“That is a solid building. The town is damn lucky for getting that building,” resident Paul Olszewski said.
He added, “It saddens me that it had to come to this, but it’s the best thing to do, as a former Board of Trustees of that church. I was married there, baptized there, my son was. It’s a gift. You’re lucky.”
Selectboard Chairwoman Carolyn Shores Ness added that the building will be cheaper to renovate than the current senior center.
Voters also approved a lease agreement with South County EMS for land adjacent to the South Deerfield fire station. Deerfield Academy intends to construct a building there and give it to the local EMS provider for a new permanent home.
This year, Deerfield’s cut of the medical service’s $516,057 budget — which has decreased $91,168 from 2016 — is $267,117, or 51.76 percent. South County EMS Director Zachary Smith said recently via email, “assessments are decreasing by 15 percent for each of the member towns.”
The motion was approved with a unanimous vote.
The total operating budget for this year, approved Monday, is $14,240,325, which is about a 5.2 percent increase from last year’s budget.
Shores Ness advocated for an additional $11,000 for the Board of Health to pay for the early stages of a potential mosquito district. This amendment brought the health board’s total budget to $35,530.
Shores Ness had warned of the urgency of addressing mosquito problems in the town, citing climate change and noting the standing water in town. “We can do stuff about mosquitoes. This is completely different than the tick issue,” she said.
Also approved were requests for $117,102 to pay for snow removal overages, money for a roadside mower, and a new voting machine.