LEYDEN — Residents submitted four petition articles to be included on the annual town meeting warrant, including Article 15, which proposes the town accept a 1983 diesel engine purchased by the Leyden Firefighters Association Inc.
The association purchased the engine in August for $3,900, but in January, the Selectboard announced it had no plans to put the engine in service, unless the association could present a substantial argument for its use.
Clifford Spatcher, president of the association and Leyden fire chief, said the association decided to seek a town meeting article to “let the taxpayers decide.”
“From who I’ve talked to about it to try to get votes, it sounds like the town is in favor of (accepting the truck),” Spatcher said. “We still figured there was use for it. Why not give it a shot?”
Using the 1983 engine, Engine 3, would “streamline the fleet,” Spatcher said, lightening the loads for 41-year-old Engine 1 and the tanker by adding more equipment to Engine 3. Engine 3 would hold more firefighters, more equipment and more water than Engine 1.
However, Selectboard Chairman Jeffrey Neipp said the town’s lawyer advised that state law dictates the Selectboard is authorized to accept gifts, not town meeting voters.
“If it doesn’t get passed over, then we’ll open up the floor for discussion,” Neipp said. As the Selectboard has sole discretion over what to do with Engine 3, any vote would be non-binding, he said.
The Leyden Firefighters Association has a second petition article on the warrant that, if passed, would allow the association to set up and maintain a training facility at Avery Field. However, Neipp said the Selectboard won’t recommend the article because “a written deed on Avery Field (says) that it’s strictly for recreation purposes.”
Neipp also plans to propose passing over Article 27, a petition article which would create a bylaw requiring anyone hunting, trapping or using a hunting dog on private property to carry written consent from the owner. Violators would be punished by a fine of no more than $100 per offense.
Neipp said he believes the town should hold a public hearing before entertaining a town meeting vote.
The final petition article, proposed by Leyden resident Ginger Robinson, involves having Leyden study the costs and coverage of health insurance for town employees and the effect those costs have had on town budgets over the past two years. Those costs would then be compared to the estimated costs and coverage under the Expanded & Improved Medicare for All Act introduced to Congress in January.
Robinson hopes the study will unearth a way for the town to save money on health coverage.
“My thinking is that if we can fulfill a moral obligation to give everyone fair and equal health coverage and save money at the same time, we should,” she said. “It’s a no brainer.”
According to Municipal Assistant Bob Hardesty, should all town meeting spending articles be passed, the budget will rise from $1,667,679 this year to $1,698,966 next year. He suspects the tax rate would increase by between 20 and 25 cents from this year’s rate of $17.08 per $1,000 valuation.
Neipp said that without the spending articles, Leyden’s operating budget would decrease, primarily due to a $31,904 reduction in school operating costs, with one fewer student at Franklin County Technical School and a Pioneer Valley Regional School assessment that decreased by less than 1 percent.
Article 21 proposes withdrawing from the Franklin County Solid Waste Management District, a proposal that was shot down at a previous town meeting.
Neipp said most residents bring their trash and recycling to the Greenfield Transfer Station, but the town still pays $2,300 a year to be part of the district. Should the town vote to withdraw, Neipp said, Leyden would still need to appropriate $2,300 for next year, giving the district a year’s notice.
Other articles involve allocating: $62,911 to continue construction on the broadband network; $3,175 for Leyden’s share of Pioneer’s capital projects and $8,603 for technology replacement; $10,000 to remove the wall of windows at the entrance of Pearl Rhodes Elementary School and replace them with a solid wall, and replace the door and ceiling panels; $5,800 to replace two Town Hall doors; and $3,450 to purchase a dispatch software upgrade.