ERVING — Among the 34 articles on deck for Annual Town Meeting on Wednesday, May 13, voters will be asked to weigh in on two capital projects that would expand the Center Cemetery and upgrade the Erving Center Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Annual Town Meeting will take place at Erving Elementary School, 28 Northfield Road, starting at 7 p.m.
The warrant features these two large capital projects and other notable articles, including Article 16, which asks voters to approve using $400,000 from the Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) Trust Fund to support funding retiree benefits, and Article 20 for $72,160 to support the design of two upcoming roadway projects on Lillians Way and River Road.
FY27 budget and using OPEB
A new part of the budget for fiscal year 2027, Town Administrator Bryan Smith explained, will entail using $400,000 from the OPEB Trust Fund to fund retiree benefits, which has helped balance the budget. In Article 16, voters will be asked to make that decision.
“The whole point is to get to a point where the interest in the fund itself is viable enough to pay for retiree post-employment benefits, and so we’re going to start that transition for FY27, if the voters authorize it,” Smith explained.
This year, the FY27 operating budget sits at $8.1 million, which is a $891,822 increase from FY26. Health insurance, sitting at $2.89 million, is driving the bulk of the increase in budget, Smith explained. This represents an 18.09% increase from FY26.
Many municipalities are grappling with similar health insurance hikes. However, Erving is in a unique position to begin using its OPEB Trust Fund to fund its $592,146 in retiree benefits. This option also helped close a budget deficit that emerged during the budget planning season. With the use of the OPEB Trust Fund, Smith said the town was able to free up space in other areas of the budget, including for hiring a full-time information technology (IT) position.
“It’s not lost on me that we’re a community that is at the beginning of being able to use the funds for what it’s designed for, and I know many other communities aren’t there yet,” he said. “I appreciate how fortunate we are that we’re in a place that we can start to do that.”
Additional budget drivers include the $5.5 million for elementary and secondary education costs, which is the largest portion of the total budget.
Cemetery expansion and wastewater improvements
Articles 29 and 30 are asking voters to fund two capital projects via borrowing, but with no debt exclusion necessary for either project to move forward, according to Smith.
Article 29 is seeking approval from voters to borrow $1.1 million for the expansion of Center Cemetery in Erving Center. This request comes as space in the 7.5-acre cemetery has become increasingly limited, with only seven plots remaining.
In January, Cemetery Commission member Holly Fitzpatrick explained that the goal for the project is to expand the existing cemetery across the street from the current land off of Mountain Road, with approximately 100 new traditional burial plots, as well as areas for green burials and columbarium niches for cremated remains. There will also be a new driveway for vehicle access into the cemetery.
This expansion project has already received some funding for the design work. In May 2025, Annual Town Meeting voters approved a $1.1 million appropriation for nine capital projects, including $200,000 for the Center Cemetery project.
Article 30 is for another capital project that will cost $1 million for the town, which is working in conjunction with the private company Erving Industries Inc. The town contracts with Erving Industries to run the town-owned Erving Center Wastewater Treatment Plant, located 500 yards west of the paper mill at 97 East Main St. This cost is for updating the secondary clarifiers, which were first installed in the 1970s when the plant was established.
Smith explained that the town and Erving Industries have maintained a cost-sharing agreement since the plant’s establishment, and the Selectboard will work with the company when it comes to financing the debt service on the project.
Smith said the town has the capacity for these two projects, though there are opportunities for grants or other funding sources that could minimize the debt needed.
“If either of these are approved by the voters, they won’t necessarily have to come back to the election booth and make another vote, but this would only be the beginning of working with the responsible boards and committees,” Smith explained about these two articles, “and then particularly on the wastewater one, talking to our state counterparts about funding opportunities, whether they’re loan options or whether there’s grant options, before we even speak about finalizing a debt service.”
Additional funding requests are for two Phase 1 Water Department capital projects. Article 20 will ask voters to use $72,160 from the Water System Capital Stabilization Fund, putting $41,160 toward the River Road project design and $31,000 toward Lillians Way.
Smith said these allocations represent “step one” in larger Water Department projects to upgrade the water main line for River Road and for service line replacements to Lillians Way. While this is just the funding for design work, Smith said additional funding requests will be factored into FY28 and FY29 plans, though grants will be sought.
A full copy of the May 13 warrant is available at tinyurl.com/ye28ufvc.
