ERVING — Erving Elementary School is set to get new Apple computers and the town to upgrade to energy efficient LED street lighting.
Voters approved measures to pay for each at a special town meeting Tuesday night.
Twenty-six of the town’s 1,121 registered voters attended the half-hour meeting at the senior and community center. In addition to the computers and street lighting, voters also approved a $125,000 request to replace the Highway Department’s aging John Deere backhoe and accepted Care Drive as a public way.
The elementary school will replace six iMac computers and begin a new four-year lease for iPads and Macbook Air computers now that voters have approved a request for $28,000. Selectman Scott Bastarache said the lease includes 48 iPads and 24 Macbook Airs.
“What they do is they’re on a four-year lease, and at the end of the lease they purchase each one of those machines for $1, so they’ll be finishing up another four-year cycle and starting a new four-year cycle,” he said.
Also during the meeting, residents voted to set aside $30,000 to upgrade the town’s street lighting.
Erving has received a $13,000 state grant to help replace 163 cobra head style streetlights with energy efficient LED fixtures. The project is estimated to cost $58,600 and is projected to reduce the town’s energy consumption by 29,730 kWh. Energy incentives from Eversource and National Grid are also expected to reimburse the town about $7,400.
“We have money already in an account, this would get us to what we need for the $58,000,” Town Coordinator Bryan Smith said.
Care Drive, a private road, was accepted as a public way.
“That step was never completed when the private way, as it stands right now, was put in place,” Selectboard Chairman Jacob Smith said. “It will also place it on the maps. I believe currently on maps and navigation and things, it’s not a public way so it’s not listed, and people have trouble finding it.”
The senior and community center is currently the only facility on Care Drive, but it is the site for the proposed new Erving library and a possible senior living project.
The remainder of the warrant’s seven articles were unanimously approved. These included requests to transfer money into the town’s general stabilization account, as well as an amendment to the town’s bylaw to establish new revolving accounts that will bring the town up to compliance with the state’s Municipal Modernization Act.