DEERFIELD — After a lengthy discussion, the Selectboard and Finance Committee agreed Wednesday to recommend borrowing up to $5 million, if necessary, to pay to fix road damage resulting from July’s heavy rainstorms, sending the question to Special Town Meeting voters.
The catch, though, is the town may not need to borrow the full $5 million because the state could potentially provide some funding to affected towns in late November, according to Selectboard Chair Carolyn Shores Ness.
Instead, having the approval to borrow this money would give Deerfield the “flexibility” to repair River Road if it were to suffer a “catastrophic failure.” While July’s storms washed out streets and caused lasting damage around town, much of the focus is on River Road because the embankment has slowly been sinking in subsequent rainstorms.
“I would like us to have the capability, if River Road does fail, to have the ability to go out and fix it. It’s a major artery,” Shores Ness said. “To have that shutdown is serious. We have to be able to get on it and we don’t know when it’s going to fail.”
If approved by a two-thirds vote at Town Meeting, the borrowing would then go to the ballot box for a Proposition 2½ vote, which Selectboard member Tim Hilchey said is another chance for residents to approve or deny the funding, a process similar to the approval for Tilton Library’s expansion project in 2022.
“It makes the most sense to ask the voters. … They get two opportunities to say yes or no,” he said. “I’d like the Selectboard and Finance Committee to go into this meeting pretty much in agreement.”
If the state were to provide Deerfield with the $4.7 million it requested, Shores Ness said they can always cancel the override vote, which would be slated for December. Town Accountant Brenda Hill added they could then rescind the borrowing authority at the spring Annual Town Meeting.
Finance Committee Chair Julie Chalfant said the average single-family tax bill, based on the average home value of $359,661 and an estimated interest rate of 6% over a 20-year period, would increase by $178 per year, or a 3.2% increase.
She added the Finance Committee’s rationale behind its original $2 million recommendation was to get the town past its “cash flow problem” and “reset” the town’s finances. Then, they could come back to voters in the spring to ask to borrow the remaining amount of money needed. The lower amount, she said, could be more palatable to voters, but then the town wouldn’t have the full borrowing authority and could possibly not do the full scope of repairs.
Shores Ness said the $5 million ask is intended be “transparent” about borrowing money and to be upfront about the anticipated costs because they don’t know if River Road will last through the winter. She said Highway Superintendent Kevin Scarborough has been out measuring the embankment after each rainstorm.
While the work is important, Finance Committee member Mark Brennan said he had some concerns about the $5 million request being an “arbitrary amount” that could escalate because town officials truly don’t know what the repair costs are without engineering.
“My feeling is that I don’t think anyone here could come up with a number without engineering,” Brennan said, instead suggesting the town cover its immediate needs now and get some engineering done to have the full picture by the spring. “It’s highly likely we’re going to have to go to the well twice because I don’t think $4 to $5 million is going to do it. … I’d rather give the town the shot in the arm it needs now to pay for the expenses that are rolling in.”
Chalfant noted earlier in the meeting that town officials could always amend the borrowing amount to be lower on the Town Meeting floor. She added it is up to the voters to see if they want to approve the $5 million.
“I think there’s no question the work needs doing,” Chalfant said. “By approving the $5 million for borrowing, you’re putting the trust we always put in the Selectboard and the town to spend that appropriately and to move forward in a reasonable manner, where we’re doing a long-term fix but also not spending too soon.”
Joining an earlier vote by the Selectboard, the Finance Committee ultimately voted 4-1 to recommend borrowing up to $5 million, with Brennan serving as the sole vote against it. The matter will come before voters at the Special Town Meeting on Monday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. in the Frontier Regional School auditorium. The deadline to register to vote at the Town Clerk’s Office is Oct. 13 at 5 p.m.
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.