Montague Town Meeting members vote to send $23.7M library project to ballot

MONTAGUE — Town Meeting members have approved sending the $23.7 million new library project to the ballot box, allowing the town to appropriate the project cost contingent upon a townwide debt-exclusion vote set for June 24.

Saturday’s vote saw 81 residents in favor and three against, with Town Meeting members emphasizing their desire to open the library vote up to the entire community.

“That building, as a functioning library, is … terminal. I would recommend it going on hospice right now,” Town Meeting member John Lentz said, analogizing the lifespan of the existing Carnegie Public Library and recommending the vote go to the whole town. “We can laugh, but it’s true, and that’s a good decision, and probably the whole family needs to make that decision out in the rest of the town.”

The 95 voters in attendance ultimately passed all 33 warrant articles over the course of more than sevn hours. Some topics that inspired larger debate and amendments were the Police Department’s operating budget and capital requests, and a special funding article to support the Gill-Montague Regional School District.

The new library was the big-ticket item to be voted on, with some attendees handing out slips of paper urging “no” votes as people entered the meeting at Turners Falls High School.

The proposal is to build a new 21,000-square-foot library at 38 Avenue A. This project is part of the competitive Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program, which is reimbursing 48% of the total construction cost.

The article authorized the town to appropriate the full project cost, though Montague will ultimately be responsible for $12.4 million. The state has agreed to fund $11.3 million.

The new library would be paid for using a debt exclusion, which would allow the town to temporarily raise property taxes above the levy limit for the lifetime of the debt. Tax-wise, it would cost an extra $159 per year for the average single-family home in Montague.

Some of the Town Meeting members who voted to support the new library shared that while they planned to vote “yes” to bring the question to the ballot, they have reservations about voting in the affirmative come June 24.

“I love libraries. I’m very nervous about how big this project is, but for me, the question isn’t that,” Jennifer Waryas of Precinct 4 said. “The question is … should this go to the voters of the town? And to me, that’s a yes.”

Some of these cost concerns were laid out during the debate, including the cost to taxpayers amid an uncertain economic future and the necessity of a new library now.

John Hanold of Precinct 5 voted not to bring the project to the townwide vote. He shared his recognition of the limitations the current library poses, but noted the other capital projects on the horizon, including Montague’s nearly $16 million share of a new Franklin County Technical School building that only requires a district-wide majority to pass during an October vote. He said the $12.7 million library project cost is a “long-term commitment” combined with other projects being paid off, like the Department of Public Works garage and the combined sewer system debt.

“I just want to point out that [Franklin Tech] serves a fraction of the population of the town. The library serves every single person in town and outside of town, regardless of who you are,” Matthew Atwood of Precinct 2 said, replying to Hanold that, “Yes, it is speculative that a giant library on the entrance of town will contribute to economic benefit, but I think it’s a pretty darn good bet.”

According to a handout about the financial impact of both the library project and the Franklin Tech building project, prepared by Town Administrator Walter Ramsey, both the library and tech school could be financed with a debt exclusion as the town has an excellent bond rating from “financial policies and strong revenues.” The handout also notes there are trade-offs to both projects happening at the same time, including creating limitations on financing other building projects like the proposed merger of the Hillcrest and Sheffield elementary schools.

Montague Public Libraries Director Caitlin Kelley said she acknowledges this “moment of uncertainty,” and that the impulse is to “maintain the status quo” during times of uncertainty. However, Kelley stressed how this library would be an economic driver.

“Montague, once again, has the opportunity of a generation to invest in itself and its institutions; to invest in a vision of the future that meets the needs of community members of all ages, abilities, backgrounds and circumstances,” she said.

To highlight use at the Carnegie Public Library, Kelley explained that in 2025 alone, the library saw 18,598 visitors, and 2,441 library card holders checked out 50,000 physical items. Library-hosted programs that were held off-site due to the limited size of the library attracted 9,397 attendees.

Town Meeting members also emphasized the need to act on this opportunity to fund the project with state support, explaining how the library is an investment in the future of the town and would support existing residents who can’t easily access the current library.

“This library is never going to get cheaper. Half of it’s being paid for by a grant. The land that it’s being put on is free. Like they said, if we don’t do this now, chances are you’d be lucky if in 10, 15 years, you might be able to get the library,” Ronald Michonski of Precinct 3 said. “A library is a statement of whether a community gives a damn.”

After over an hour of discussion, the article ultimately passed. Two additional library-related articles — Article 23 for land acquisition from the Montague Economic Development and Industrial Corporation and Article 21 allowing for the use of $16,500 for roof repairs at the Carnegie Public Library — also passed.

Police Department

Outside of the new library, the town’s fiscal year 2027 $13.8 million operating budget was debated before ultimately passing by a majority.

The operating budget is up 6.3% from FY26, with the main drivers being employee contractual increases, a 16% increase in health insurance costs, an 11.5% increase for the Montague Police Department now that it’s fully staffed, and a 13.5% increase for the town clerk’s budget to cover the cost of three elections in FY27.

The police budget is $238,890, with costs up from the new contract agreements with Police Chief Jason Haskins and the police unions, along with equipment costs.

“What you’re seeing now is a reset under new leadership, with a department that is now fully staffed. Importantly, no services or staffing are being expanded at the Police Department,” Ramsey explained. “We’re just making sure that they have the basic resources that they need to operate.”

As for the capital requests, Article 12 sought approval to purchase radio batteries, a special refrigerator for evidence and two police cruisers, as well as provide funding for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) improvements.

“I took an operational look at everything and how things are going. I’ve looked at these cruisers multiple ways, multiple times,” Haskins explained.

Haskins added that, based on the condition of the existing fleet of six cruisers, the daily use of all the vehicles and the timing of the request, he’s bringing the request now. Upon Town Meeting approval to replace an out-of-service cruiser and the K-9 cruiser with 150,212 miles on it, which is above the accepted service life in maximum mileage, he said delivery of the two new cruisers would be expected in October. Other cruisers will hit the 150,000-mile mark by that time, and additional requests would come to Town Meeting next year.

Maddox Sprengel of Precinct 4 suggested an amendment to cut the $160,000 police cruiser request in half to $80,000, giving enough leeway for the department to buy a replacement for the out-of-service cruiser, but not enough to replace the police K-9 cruiser. Ultimately, this amendment failed. Town Meeting members and town officials spoke in favor of the article, but expressed interest in reviewing the procedure for funding police cruisers.

Additional amended articles

Other amended articles included a request from the Gill-Montague Regional School District in Article 10, including $70,000 for the Sheffield Elementary School after-school program, $80,000 in instructional items for Turners Falls High School and Great Falls Middle School, and $13,717 for instructional items at Hillcrest Elementary School. All of this funding would be covered by Cannabis Impact Fees.

Hanold sought an amendment to fund these items through Gill-Montague’s Capital Stabilization Account, which received some support from Town Meeting members who wanted to use the Cannabis Impact Fee revenue for other options. Despite some agreement, the amendment failed, and the article passed as written.

Another suggested change was a salary line reduction for the Turners Falls Municipal Airport, with Melanie Ames Zamojski of Precinct 6 seeking to reduce the salary request from $288,504 to $227,058 in response to the 6.21% increase that Airport Manager Bryan Camden said originated from the wage and classification study.

Opposition to the amendment came from concern over changing this budget on the Town Meeting floor, and for how Camden has taken reduced pay for the sake of managing the budget. The amendment failed and the original article passed unanimously.