BERNARDSTON — Just over 30 residents attended a Special Town Meeting at the Bernardston Elementary School on Wednesday where they voted to approve all four articles on the warrant in less than 15 minutes.
The meeting was called to order at 7:02 and concluded at 7:16 p.m. The four articles pertained to spending of previously approved money for the ongoing Fire Station addition project, and an increase in the Senior Center director’s hours and salary.
Article 1 asked to appropriate approximately $8,251 to adjust the Council on Aging payroll to increase the Senior Center director’s work week from 32 to 40 hours, effective Sept. 19. This July, Director Hayley Bolton submitted a letter noting her intent to resign from her position. However, after meeting with the Selectboard in executive session, Bolton rescinded her resignation pending Special Town Meeting approval of a work hour increase.
“Throughout the pandemic, and even before that, we have noticed that the Senior Center has more and more work to do with trying to coordinate with our seniors throughout town — not just the ones that come to the Senior Center, but the ones that are homebound and can’t come to the Senior Center,” Selectboard member Stanley Garland said Wednesday.
He also noted the time Bolton devotes to applying for grants, which help fund many aspects of the Senior Center. Garland said the Selectboard felt the eight-hour increase was warranted, and residents in attendance supported this change with a unanimous vote of approval and brief applause.
Article 2 asked to transfer the $5,000 remaining in an account that was designated for the demolition of The Hollywood building in March 2020. This money will be transferred to a “Renovate/Construct Town Buildings” account.
Selectboard member Robert Raymond explained the town intends to apply the $5,000 toward the cost of demolishing the house on the 12 Church St. lot. This property neighbors the existing Fire Station and was donated to the town by the late Frank “Bud” Foster in April 2020 for use in the station expansion plan.
Article 3 asked to set aside $130,000 of “seed money to get the first wave of Fire Station expenses covered,” Town Coordinator Louis Bordeaux said. This money will come out of the $3 million that was previously approved during the town’s Annual Town Meeting and election in May, Selectboard members said.
“We just brought on the OTIS project manager, which does have a fee attached to it, and we are currently just going out to bid for the architect for the project so those bills will start to come in,” said Selectboard member Brian Keir. The board voted to hire Colliers International from Hartford, Conn. in August, for a cost of $74,600.
The Selectboard expects to have an architect under contract by the middle of October. By raising and appropriating some of this money now, “it’s money we won’t have to borrow and pay interest on,” Keir said. The $130,000 would cover anticipated expenses for the first year of the project.
Selectboard members are continuing to seek assistance from state legislators for financial help for the overall costs of the Fire Station expansion. A current petition asking the governor’s office to release $1 million that had been earmarked, but never guaranteed, for the Fire Station in a 2018 bond bill had collected more than 400 petitions by Wednesday’s meeting, according to Bordeaux.
Article 4 asked residents “to authorize the Town Clerk’s Office to remain closed on all Saturdays and to treat Saturdays as a legal holiday for purposes of calculating the time frame for filing matters in that office.” Town Clerk Christina Slocum-Wysk explained the change at Wednesday’s meeting.
“Let’s say a petition is taken out for an election, but the due date coming back in falls on a Saturday,” Slocum-Wysk said. “I would have to be there all day for those petitions to come back in. This way, people will know in advance that we’re closed on a Saturday and the next business day would be when those petitions would be due.”
This change is “strictly just for when paperwork is due,” and would result in no change to town voting hours during election cycles. She clarified that in accordance with state law, town clerks are required to hold early voting on weekends and her office would be open for these days.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.