ERVING — With 10 articles on the Special Town Meeting warrant, including a multimillion-dollar appropriation for a new library, town officials expected the Tuesday meeting to last at least an hour. But in fact, it was only 40 minutes long, with voters passing each article unanimously.
Across the street from the new Erving Public Library project site, voters in the Senior Center decided to fund both a $2,551,007 appropriation for the library’s construction and a $550,000 appropriation — using $484,750 in free cash and raising an additional $65,250 through taxation — for a solar array, furniture, fixtures and equipment.
Solar power is expected to keep energy costs level with what the library pays now, despite the new building being four times larger than the current one, according to Library Director Barbara Friedman.
The project is worth about $5.8 million total, but the town’s costs are reduced by a grant from the state Board of Library Commissioners for $2,729,146. Construction began in March, and is expected to take nine months, meaning the new library could be open by early 2020 at the earliest, Friedman said.
Approving the appropriation for the solar array also provides the matching funds necessary for Erving to receive one of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) grants it was awarded by the state.
Before the approval of the $2,551,007 construction funding article, there was about $9 million in the general stabilization fund. There will be about $6.5 million remaining.
Selectboard member Scott Bastarache said the town has a repayment plan in place.
“With a five-year plan, the majority is paid back within the first year of the opening of the library because the repayment through the (two) MBLC grants that come back in the amount of $544,000 a piece, those will go directly to general stabilization to pay it back,” Bastarache said. “As well as the $100,000 if we get that for the LEED certification that will go back relatively quickly. The remaining will be incremented annually. We’re trying to get it back as soon as we can.”
The vote also means the town rescinded the borrowing authority granted by the May 2017 Annual Town Meeting.
Other items approved during the meeting include:
■$7,200 to hire a consultant to work with the town, residents and businesses on a plan for future development of central Erving. This transfer was approved at a special town meeting in January, but the school that was hired had to cancel, and the project was put on hold.
■Establishing a new revolving fund for the library board of trustees — limited to $3,000 — that can accept money paid for use of the library, as well as fees for programs and lost books.
■$233 for a 2018 Comcast bill to the Fire Department, received after the books for the 2018 fiscal year were closed.
■Increasing the budget for the 2020 fiscal year by $32,436, to adjust town employees’ wages for cost of living increases.
■Setting salaries for elected officials at $122,463 total. This article rescinds the number approved by the May Annual Town Meeting, which did not account for the cost of living increases.
■$50,000 for a market study of wages for town employees in towns comparable to Erving.
Reach Melina Bourdeau at mbourdeau@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 263.