$987K pumper replacement for Bernardston Fire Department heads to ballot box

BERNARDSTON — The town will hold a special election on Tuesday, June 25, to decide whether the Fire Department can move forward with spending $987,000 to replace its KME pumper.

Polls will be open at Town Hall from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Voters gave their initial approval of the purchase, requiring a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion, at the April 29 Annual Town Meeting, sending the question on to the ballot box.

Fire Chief Peter Shedd said at the meeting that while neither the department’s 1973 nor 1984 engine lasted 30 years, its 1991 engine is still running. Meanwhile, the 2000 KME pumper that will be replaced has served its life expectancy.

“Our theory is trying to do more with less when we have [fewer] people and less ... mutual aid,” Shedd said in an interview this week. “This gives us the opportunity to carry a little bit more water on one truck and potentially eliminate the need for one more truck and a mutual aid chain.”

According to Town Clerk Christina Slocum-Wysk, ballots have been mailed to residents who requested a ballot for all elections this year. Ballots must be returned to Town Hall no later than the close of polls at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.