LEVERETT — Residents approved 28 of the 29 articles on the Annual Town Meeting warrant on Saturday, opting to table Article 22, which would have given the Selectboard authority to sell the former Bradford M. Field Memorial Library later this year.
Several residents spoke up in favor of tabling the article, claiming a greater need of community input in the process. If approved, the Selectboard would have had the authority to sell the building, located at 1 Shutesbury Road, to a non-profit educational or historical organization that would use the site to display Leverett’s historical artifacts.
“I think the process … has not been transparent,” commented resident Ann Ferguson. “It seems to me that the town needs to go through this process.”
Selectboard member Tom Hankinson pushed back on the claim of a lack of transparency, as the decision was made to support the Historical Commission in a grant application to secure money to restore the building during a Selectboard meeting that was properly posted and conformed to the Open Meeting Law. Hankinson added, however, that town officials learned about the grant just days before the application deadline and they wanted to try to secure the funding, then have the discussion with residents, which contributed to a lack of community feedback.
“We thought it would be a good idea to support them,” Hankinson said of a plan to get funding, “then, between now and when we get the money, we could decide what the hell we wanted to do with it.”
Ultimately, residents decided to table the matter after a lengthy discussion.
Besides Article 22, residents approved the rest of the warrant, which included a $6.83 million town budget for fiscal year 2023, the purchase of a hybrid cruiser for the Police Department and the purchase of a new medium-size dump truck for the Highway Department.
Residents also approved renaming the Transfer Station’s entrance road to Drury Lane, which honors longtime employee Richard Drury, who went missing in December 2020 and has yet to be found. The town will install a sign at the entrance to the Transfer Station and a memorial marker will be put up by volunteers at a later date.
To cap off the meeting, voters signaled their support for the Fair Share Amendment, a proposal to amend the state Constitution. The amendment would impose a 4% levy on the portion of personal income that’s over $1 million and direct the revenue to public education and transportation projects statewide. The so-called “millionaires’ tax” will be on the November state election ballot.
In a tradition unique to Leverett, elections were held on the floor of Town Meeting. Residents elected the following people to these positions:
■Patricia Duffy was elected to the Selectboard for a three-year term. She will replace longtime Selectboard member Julie Shively.
■Cat Ford and Sam Black were re-elected to the Board of Assessors for a one-year term and a three-year term. The two will decide who takes which seat.
■Barbara Kline-Seaman was elected to the Board of Health for a three-year term.
■Phil Carter and Bethany Seeger were both elected to the Finance Committee for three-year terms.
■Swan Keyes was elected to a five-year term on the Planning Board.
■Thomas Masterson was elected as constable.
■Judith Davidov and Seth Seeger were elected to the Board of Library Trustees for three-year terms.
■Jya Plavin and Tilman Wolf were both elected to the School Committee for five-year terms.
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.