MONTAGUE — Annual Town Meeting members passed 29 of the 32 articles on Saturday, spending five and a half hours deliberating on education funding, uses of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and the creation of two new government positions.

Articles 16 through 18, concerning appropriating money for an all-terrain vehicle, a boiler and septage receiving station for the Clean Water Facility, were the only three articles to be voted down. The Selectboard opted, after the Town Meeting warrant was finalized, to use ARPA money to pay for the equipment rather than request money from other accounts or through taxation.

However, Town Meeting member Jeff Singleton argued in favor of Articles 16 through 18. He worried other projects that could potentially be funded by ARPA, specifically renovating historic buildings like Old Town Hall, would be neglected with $400,000 of ARPA money now going to the Clean Water Facility.

The Selectboard “took 600K out of ARPA,” Singleton said. “There’s a rationale for doing that, I get that, but there are consequences and those consequences are being ignored.”

Selectboard members said they always planned to dedicate at least 50% of the town’s $2.2 million in ARPA money to the Clean Water Facility. Selectboard member Matthew Lord asserted the lack of connection between the Clean Water Facility and downtown projects.

“The board has consistently held that there is a certain amount of money that will be spent on CWF projects,” Lord said, “and this is part of that money.”

Ariel Elan expressed fear that the federal government could ask for the ARPA funds back now that the country has hit its debt ceiling. The Selectboard can avoid losing the grant by delegating the money to projects as soon as possible.

“It’s possible that money in the hands of towns and cities will be clawed back unless it’s been delegated,” Elan argued. “If we transfer these three articles to ARPA, we will probably be able to keep the money and allocate it regardless of what happens in [Washington] DC.”

Town Administrator Steve Ellis affirmed Elan’s comment, saying that losing ARPA funds is “a possibility but not an urgent concern.”

The conversation turned controversial when Town Counsel Gregg Corbo said either vote on the three articles would lead to the same outcome. Since the Selectboard can spend grant money without residents’ consent, as per Article 2 on the warrant, the ARPA money would still go to the Clean Water Facility.

“So either you vote ‘no’ and the Selectboard uses the funds as they’ve already decided or you vote ‘yes’ and the Selectboard uses the funds as they’ve already decided … and we call a Special Town Meeting to put the funds back,” Corbo said.

All three articles received a “no” vote by majority.

School funding and enrollment

Articles 11 and 12 discussed the budget for Franklin County Technical School and the Gill-Montague Regional School District, respectively, but most questions from voters discussed enrollment concerns and curriculum changes. While the school will receive about $1.05 million in fiscal year 2024 from Montague, which has 93 students enrolled there, Superintendent Richard Martin said Franklin Tech will receive more than $15 million from surrounding towns.

Gill-Montague Superintendent Brian Beck shared details of new sports and arts programs. He informed Town Meeting members that participation in the district’s secondary music program shot up from 18 students to around 200 students. When it comes to addressing mental health, Beck said the district altered the social-emotional learning curriculum for pre-K through sixth grade, and added more emotional and social adjustment staff. Montague’s assessment to the Gill-Montague district is about $11.81 million.

Most of the conversation revolved around declining enrollment and competition between the two school districts due to the number of students impacting sports teams, advanced classes and arts programs. In response to a question about why 150 students are choosing to attend other schools and how the district hopes to address this, Beck said the district sent out a survey to 200 families about School Choice to learn more about their reasoning for sending their children elsewhere. He also noted the upcoming school year has 54 fewer students opting for School Choice or charter schools.

Selectboard Chair Rich Kuklewicz, who also serves on the Franklin Tech School Committee, asked if middle schoolers from Montague schools are visiting Franklin Tech as agreed upon, mentioning several occasions where the district has noticed a lack of effort to have kids tour the technical school. Town Meeting member Melanie Zamojski noted the competition for pupils between the two districts doesn’t serve the overall goal of education.

“I’m really disappointed with the competitiveness of two public school systems in the same town,” Zamojski said. “Maybe not everyone is right for Franklin Tech, and maybe not everyone is right for Turner Falls.”

New positions

A town clerk administrative assistant and a collections systems lead operator were added to the roster of government positions with Saturday’s approval from Town Meeting members. Retiring Town Clerk Deb Bourbeau, who was recognized for her service at both the beginning and end of the meeting, said the town clerk’s responsibilities have grown exponentially. Two people aren’t enough to manage the daily workload without putting in unpaid overtime.

“The state has increased dramatically our workload when it comes to elections, so much so it has become over-burdensome,” Bourbeau said.

“During elections, especially the big state ones, it’s ridiculous. We were forced to work last year the whole Labor Day weekend. … At least 20 [hours of overtime] for me, and I try not to make [Assistant Town Clerk Kathern Pierce] have to stay, but when the state puts an election after Labor Day weekend, a major holiday,” Bourbeau continued.

Ellis noted the need for a collections systems lead operator at the Department of Public Works because of new state regulations that require an expert in managing stormwater and wastewater collection.

“From the standpoint of environmental responsibility and regulatory compliance, Ellis said, “this is something we need to do.”

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