NORTHFIELD — To address the town’s needs for a new emergency services facility, residents will be asked to approve purchasing 39 Main St. and the neighboring 41 Main St., and paying $110,000 for demolition and abatement costs for the first property, during a Special Town Meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 19.
The meeting will commence at 6:30 p.m. at Pioneer Valley Regional School, where voters will consider 14 warrant articles. Other votes involve placing town-owned parcels into conservation, and making improvements to Dickinson Memorial Library and the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Articles 2, 4 and 5 offer a potential solution for a new emergency services facility. First, the town must ask voters to rescind a vote taken in 2024 to approve the purchase of a property on Northfield Road in Bernardston, as the deal fell through and the town ultimately did not buy the property to house Northfield EMS. Special Town Meeting voters had approved purchasing and outfitting the Valley Concrete & Construction property for $2.1 million, with $312,012 slated to come from the Sale of Cell Tower Easement Account, nearly $1.11 million coming from the Emergency Services Building Account and $680,479 coming from the Capital Stabilization Fund.
During a Special Town Meeting information session, Finance Committee Chair Gail Weiss said rescinding the vote would allow the previously approved money to be put toward purchasing other properties that could be used to build a new emergency services facility.
“The second one (article) is rescinding that purchase in Bernardston that did not go through. We have to do that in order to use those funds again,” Weiss said.
If voters approve rescinding that vote, those funds can then be put toward purchasing 41 Main St., the current home of Northfield EMS, and the neighboring 39 Main St., whose property owners, Shane Burke and Megan Sullivan, are essentially donating to the town. With voter approval, the town will pay $1 to Burke and Sullivan, and cover $110,000 in closing costs, demolition and abatement of the property, which sustained heavy smoke and water damage in a fire this past June.
“41 Main St., where we currently lease property from Sandri, was identified by the committee as the No. 1 site for EMS, but was not optimal for EMS, Fire and Police due to its small size,” Northfield EMS Chief Matthew Wolkenbreit said.
Wolkenbreit noted Sandri also owns a non-conforming parcel that stretches from behind 41 Main St. to East Street. That parcel, when combined with 41 and 39, should be big enough to construct a facility meeting all the town’s needs. Article 4 asks voters to approve transferring $275,000 from the Emergency Services Facility Account to fund the purchase.
“What we’re bringing to you at Town Meeting is the acquisition of both parcels for the purpose of moving forward with building EMS out at that location, which is really an exceptional location for us,” Wolkenbreit said.
Voters will also be asked to approve putting conservation restrictions on six parcels along Parker Avenue and Great Meadow Road that the town acquired through the tax title process. Selectboard Chair Barbara “Bee” Jacque said the town has been brainstorming what to do with these properties and, with resident input, has decided to conserve them. Placing conservation restrictions on the parcels prevents them from being sold and developed.
Jacque, who also serves on the Historical Commission, added that these properties are near the Northfield Center Cemetery and the Historical Commission is interested in researching these properties as they may be historically significant.
“We’re interested in if there’s anything actually around that cemetery, because not everyone was always placed in the cemetery,” Jacque said. “Sometimes if people were poorer they would be placed outside of the cemetery.”
The town, in Articles 10 to 13, is also seeking voter approval to use $44,060 from the Sewer Enterprise Fund to make repairs and improvements to the Wastewater Treatment Plant, including installing a new manhole on Moody Street and repairing the Moody Street pipes, purchasing a water sampler for the plant and covering flow metering expenses.
If the expenses are approved, the Sewer Enterprise Fund will have $267,814 to use for future repairs and renovations.
Sewer Commission Chair Karen Boudreau said Articles 10 and 11 address unanticipated repairs that were needed on Moody Street in September. The Sewer Commission has filed an insurance claim, but needs to cover the cost until the insurance company either approves or denies the claim.
“There was a sanitary sewer overflow from a sewer pipe on Moody Street that was punctured with a new utility pole,” Boudreau explained.
She added that Articles 12 and 13 cover necessary equipment replacement to keep the aging Wastewater Treatment Plant functional.
“As you’ve heard over and over again,” Boudreau said, “a lot of things need to be replaced, and this is one of them.”
The full 14-article warrant, as well as the slideshow presentation from the pre-Town Meeting information session and a video recording of the meeting, can be found at northfieldma.gov/home/news/fall-town-meeting-november-19.