WARWICK — While most of the articles presented at Annual Town Meeting related to the formation of a new school district, it was a decision to appropriate $40,000 for continued construction on the new Fire Station that generated the most discussion.

Seventy-four residents gathered at Warwick Community School on Monday, approving all but one of the 32 warrant articles.

Two articles were presented to voters regarding funding for Fire Station construction — one, put forward by town officials, for $40,000, and the other, a citizen’s petition spearheaded by former volunteer firefighter William Lyman, for $250,000.

According to Fire Chief Joe Larson, construction of the new Fire Station on Orange Road, across the street from the old one, began in 2015. The Warwick Firemen’s Association used fundraisers to purchase materials for the new building, and members volunteered their time to build it, with many having backgrounds in professional construction. The old 1952 Fire Station on Hastings Pond Road was likewise built with association money and labor, then subsequently donated to the town of Warwick.

Complete construction of the new Fire Station was estimated to cost about $200,000, according to Larson. It is about 75% complete.

Lyman has been pushing town officials to complete the station. It is not weatherized, so it does not have a bathroom or other essentials needed to be fully functional. Firefighters go to the old station across the street to use the restroom. Selectboard member Brian Snell said officials hope to have a timeline soon on when the new station will be completed and all the equipment can be moved over.

Article 22, which passed, asked the town to transfer $40,000 from the Stabilization Account to pay to finish the new station, and was recommended by the Finance Committee and Selectboard. Larson explained at the meeting that he is 100% certain the station can be finished with the $40,000 requested, as well as $30,000 that was given to the town to support public safety as part of the Early Site Permit (ESP) from the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station.

State Rep. Susannah Whipps, I-Athol, has also put forward a $50,000 earmark through the state’s fiscal year 2024 budget to support the Warwick Fire Station. The budget was passed by the House and needs to be approved by the Senate and Gov. Maura Healey. Whipps said she created a similar earmark for Royalston last year, and she knew that the Warwick facility needed money, too, when she went there for an event commemorating a retirement.

After many votes regarding the appropriation — including proposed amendments that resulted in several recounts — the original article requesting $40,000 from the Stabilization Account passed.

At the end of the meeting, Lyman requested that voters table his citizen’s petition article mentioned in Article 32, citing that there was enough money appropriated to complete the project. The petition article had asked the town to raise, appropriate or borrow $250,000.

“I think we took care of this,” Lyman said.

Several people, including Town Coordinator David Young, thanked Lyman for bringing the issue of the incomplete Fire Station to the attention of residents.

“It was a healing process,” Snell said of the vote. “People on both sides did some handshaking.”

The town also approved the $2.7 million omnibus budget for FY24 with minimal discussion. This figure is $547,519 higher than the current year’s budget and includes an education budget of just over $1 million, an 8% increase from this fiscal year.

Article 17, which transferred $211,930 from free cash to reduce the FY24 tax levy, passed after some debate on whether to move the question to the end of the warrant. Lyman requested moving this article in case residents wanted to use this free cash for the Fire Station project instead. The town decided to vote on the article in the order it was called because if the town did not use the free cash, it would have needed a Proposition 2½ override.

The town also passed 11 articles, about one-third of the entire warrant, with little to no discussion that created revolving accounts and other actions needed for Warwick Community School to operate as an independent school district.

Reach Bella Levavi
at 413-930-4579 or
blevavi@recorder.com.

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