Funding for hybrid cruiser, student van approved in Warwick

By LIESEL NYGARD

For the Recorder

Published: 12-13-2023 5:43 PM

WARWICK — Roughly 50 voters passed all but one of the 13 warrant articles at Monday’s Special Town Meeting, signaling their support to buy a hybrid police cruiser and a van to transport Warwick Community School students.

The sole article that was passed over, Article 7, gave voters the choice of entering into a five-year lease for a school van, rather than purchasing one. However, since voters had approved using $80,000 from the Stabilization Fund to buy a van in Article 6, this subsequent article was unnecessary.

Carole Learned-Miller, Warwick Community School’s superintendent, said students who are getting to school by bus are being picked up in multiple trips, a task she said takes 90 minutes.

“We have a long period of time [that] is non-instructional,” Learned-Miller said. “We’d like to have a much more efficient opening to school.”

The van, which is expected to be available for use in the fall of 2024, would also be useful for taking field trips and would prevent the independent school district from paying $450 per day to use a second bus, Learned-Miller added.

To purchase a hybrid police cruiser, voters approved Article 1, allowing the town to transfer $68,000 from available funds, such as potentially free cash or the Stabilization Fund.

In a related vote in Article 2, voters rescinded a previous Special Town Meeting vote that had granted the town authority to borrow $70,000 to buy the cruiser.

“Right now, interest rates are high and borrowing to purchase the police cruiser would be unwise,” an informational document distributed at Town Meeting reads.

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Other articles that were approved entailed:

■Rescinding a previous Annual Town Meeting vote to transfer $31,102 to reduce the tax levy. The correct amount was $19,426, which voters then agreed to transfer to the Stabilization Fund in a subsequent article.

■Appropriating certified free cash in the amount of $138,578 to the Stabilization Fund.

■Entering into a five-year contract for Warwick School District pupils to be transported to Pioneer Valley Regional School and Franklin Country Technical School.

■Discontinuing and abandoning Paul Road, thus closing it to the public.

■Paying last year’s bills, including for the Fire Station’s propane in the amount of $673.48, the Selectboard’s pump rebuild at Warwick Community School in the amount of $2,946.50 and a $200 Board of Health expense for Moore’s Pond testing.

■Using National Grid energy rebates that the town received for completing Green Communities energy-saving measures to pay for project expenses as required through the Green Communities grant program.

■Establishing a fund for police training and equipment.

■Increasing the cap for Brian Snell’s earnings as an instructor at Warwick Community School for the fiscal year from $5,000 to $7,500.

Liesel Nygard, a Warwick resident, previously interned in Warwick Town Hall.