Looking at the year ahead in South County, a Recorder article on Dec. 31 pointed out that "much like the weather, the plans for at least two of those towns have changed following July's torrential rainstorms, as Deerfield and Conway are looking toward 2024 as a year of rebuilding roads and paying off millions of dollars in damages."

As Deerfield residents know well, those disastrous rainstorms resulted in expensive repairs to our damaged roads and failing infrastructure. The deadline to pay for all this work is before us. The Select Board has been working with our legislators, state Sen. Jo Comerford and state Rep. Natalie Blais, and has applied for state disaster funds, but it is not clear which towns will receive any money. Therefore, an election has been set for Jan. 16 to vote for borrowing relief.

We must approve this debt-excluded borrowing as the only way to meet the June deadline. Your "yes" vote is a safety net that allows the town to borrow up to $5 million — if needed. You might recall that a few years ago, we were asked to vote for a new sewer system because the old one was failing fast. Though many of us were not on the system, we approved the funding. As a result, we have an efficient sewer system for the future. Now we are faced with making our roadways and culverts safe for the future. I'm optimistic that my friends and neighbors understand the importance of this to our community, so please come out and vote and invite your neighbors and friends to join you. I am asking you to vote "yes" in our special town election on Tuesday, Jan. 16, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Town Hall.

Annette Pfannebecker

South Deerfield