What You Need to Know About Next Thursday's Vote on the Fire Station Debt Exclusion

by Inanna Arthen
Winchendon voters will go to the polls on Thursday, January 19 to approve a debt exclusion for the town to borrow $618,750 to pay for shovel-ready designs for a new Fire Station. This is a required follow-up ballot vote for the article passed at Fall Special Town Meeting on October 24, 2022. That article, which required a two thirds majority, passed with an 88 percent majority and enthusiastic applause.

A debt exclusion temporarily increases the property tax rate above the limits of Proposition 2-1/2. Unlike an "override," which is a permanent increase, a debt exclusion is removed from the tax rate when the loan is retired. This debt exclusion will represent an increase of 12 cents per $1,000 of assessed value per year. (Multiply your home's assessed value, which is on your tax bill, by .00012 to see how it will impact you. A $280,000 home would see an annual increase of $33.60, or $8.40 per quarterly tax bill.)

The Fire Station project has been on the drawing table since 2019, when voters rejected a proposal for an $11.8 million design. Working intensely with Town Manager Justin Sultzbach, the projected cost of the station has been whittled down to about $8.5 million. "We literally moved broom closets, made hallways six inches narrower to cut costs, but we use the design information and the actual drawings and the conceptual design, to get to the stage where we were able to get a price estimate which was a product almost $4 million less than what the original was," Winchendon Fire Chief Tom Smith said in September. The current ballot vote is only for the final designs, which will be complete and construction-ready.

For a complete review of the debate around the Fire Station project, see the previous Courier coverage:

"Winchendon voters defeat article for expanded fire station" in the October 31-November 7 2019 edition of The Winchendon Courier

"Town Manager Presents Draft Town Meeting Warrant to BOS and FinCom" (Designs for Fire Station Upgrade) in the September 15-22, 2022 edition of The Winchendon Courier

"Winchendon FD Presents Case for Separate Sleeping Quarters for Male and Female Crew" in the September 22-29, 2022 edition of The Winchendon Courier

"Voters Will Face Tough Questions at Fall STM on October 24" (Article 5) in the October 13-20, 2022 edition of The Winchendon Courier

"STM Voters Approve Fire Station Design, Water Main, Shoot Down Town Charter Changes" in the October 27-November 3, 2022 edition of The Winchendon Courier

BOS Vote to Hold Special Town Meeting for Community Preservation Act

by Inanna Arthen
At their meeting on Monday, January 9, after a long discussion, the Board of Selectmen voted to convene a Special Town Meeting with one article on the warrant. The article will ask voters to approve placing the Community Preservation Act (CPA) on the ballot for the annual Town Election on May 1.

The Community Preservation Act allows communities to receive matching grants from a state fund when they commit to a 3 percent property tax surcharge dedicated to the CPA program. Of the CPA monies collected, 10 percent must be used for each of the following four categories: housing, recreation, open space conservation and historic preservation. 5 percent must pay for an administrator. The remaining 55 percent may be applied to other community projects. The funds would be applied for and disbursed according to strict CPA guidelines, by an independent citizen-led CPA Committee in the town, and would be subject to a vote at Town Meeting for final approval. CPA funds are not part of a town's operating budget and can be accrued over a period of years to fund larger projects to benefit the town.

Winchendon's Community Preservation Act Exploratory Committee (CPAEC) recommended that Winchendon adopt three exemptions for residents from the 3 percent surcharge. Low income housing and low or moderate income senior housing would be entirely exempt; residents would re-apply each year to qualify. The first $100,000 of a residential property's value would be exempt from the surcharge. Third, the first $100,000 of a commercial or industrial property's value would be exempt from the surcharge.

The Robinson Broadhurst Foundation has agreed to support Winchendon's adoption of the CPA by funding 1 percent of the surcharge, pending an official vote by the Robinson Broadhurst Foundation committee. This would reduce the surcharge for Winchendon taxpayers to 2 percent.

As a quick example, using the 2023 tax rate of $13.40 per $1,000 of assessed value and a hypothetical home in Winchendon assessed at $250,000:

$250,000 - $100,000 = $150,000
$150,000 x 0.0134 x 0.03 = a surcharge of $60.30 per year or $15.08 per quarter
$150,000 x 0.0134 x 0.02 = a surcharge of $40.20 per year or $10.05 per quarter

(Your home's assessed value may be found on your tax bill or in the Assessor's database on the town website.)

The state's fund has three rounds of matching grants. The first round applies to all communities and guarantees matching funds of 20 percent of what the town has collected through surcharges. The second and third rounds are based on a town's population and total property values. Winchendon currently qualifies for all three rounds, potentially giving the town 100 percent matching funds for the amount the town collects from taxpayers. This could fluctuate, as only the first 20 percent is firm. The state monies come from real estate fees and tax stamps paid to the Registry of Deeds.

Town Manager Justin Sultzbach pointed out that every municipality in Massachusetts has been contributing to the state CPA fund through its real estate fees for the last two decades, but only a certain number of them have adopted the Community Preservation Act and begun recovering some of those funds. Some wealthy communities like Cambridge, Lexington and Concord have been taking advantage of the program all along. Winchendon's tiny neighbor, Royalston, has implemented the CPA.

The Board had some questions about whether private individuals could apply for funds and benefit, or whether only the town could use CPA funds to purchase land or do projects. Mr. Sultzbach and CPAEC member Marc Dorwart explained that the regulations are very strict, and any granting of funds goes through a public process including a Town Meeting vote. Land purchased for conservation would be purchased by the town and would need to go into stewardship. This would remain on the deed in perpetuity.

Mr. Sultzbach related a story about a town that agreed to give private owners CPA money to restore the facade of their privately owned but very historically significant house. The house was "a blight" in a meticulously updated town square which the town had spent millions of dollars on improving. In this case, helping the owners improve their property provided a direct and indirect benefit to the town.

Mr. Dorwart explained that "a major use of this thing" by communities has been to acquire land, and preserve open space. Under the CPA laws, if a community purchases property for preservation, and puts down 30 percent, the state will fund the remaining 70 percent of the purchase price.

The CPA has complex rules for documenting and recording all use of funds, and requires that five percent of the funds pay for a part-time professional administrator for the program.

While the Board was in favor of adopting the CPA, the timing of the Special Town Meeting raised concerns. Board Vice-Chair Rick Ward argued that many of the town's senior citizens are not here in the wintertime, and it would be difficult to get a quorum for a one-article warrant. It costs the town approximately $4,000 to hold a Special Town Meeting. This article will affect taxes and people should be able to vote on it. He asked why the CPA couldn't simply be put on the ballot for the annual Town Election and then appear on the Annual Town Meeting warrant.

Mr. Sultzbach explained that the Special Town Meeting vote was authorizing the CPA to appear on the Town Election ballot. "But I think another component...was concerns that this topic could potentially get buried or lost in a larger meeting. And I think the intention, at least from where I sat was that it would provide Winchendon residents an opportunity to come out and discuss this topic. It's not going to get slipped in between a giant annual budget and five other things that might be going on [at Annual Town Meeting]."

Mr. Dorwart continued, "There's two options on how you can present this to the public. You can just do a petition [to] get it put on the ballot immediately, where we can go through the requesting that it'd be put on the ballot, in which case you're using that forum to advertise and educate the public about it and you're drawing much more attention to it and it's been a successful way that other towns have gotten it done. Like Justin said, there's not enough days to do what you were talking about. Because it's 35 or 40 days between the Town Meeting and the ballot. So if you go past that timeframe, then you can't put it on the ballot anymore."

"You would call a special ballot vote, and you'd be paying for that," Mr. Sultzbach said.

There was also a question of the warrant for Annual Town Meeting being long since closed by the time of the annual Town Election. Mr. Sultzbach added that an extra town election and an extra Special Town Meeting are budgeted for every year, precisely for situations like this.

Mr. Dorwart stated that the CPA rules specify that a petition or request to put the CPA on the ballot must be at least 35 days before a town or city election.

In reponse to Mr. Ward's concerns about "snowbirds" being out of town and not able to vote, Mr. Dorwart said, "There's a lot of citizens that are ignored by other logistics of this town...to focus on just one voter group as a deciding factor, it just seems unequal and capricious. We're not voting on the issue, we're voting on whether to put the issue up to the people." Town Meeting has to decide to put the question on the ballot "because for some reason or another, the state decided that that's a hoop you have to go through in order to get this thing passed," he said.

The Board agreed that theoretically, there could be other articles on the March 13 warrant, should any be submitted by the deadline. That might help attract a quorum, Selectman Barbara Anderson suggested.

The Board voted 4-1 to hold a Special Town Meeting on Monday, March 19, with Mr. Ward voting no. The warrant will be open from Thursday, January 12 until noon on Thursday, January 19. Citizens who would like to place an article on the March 13 warrant should contact the Town Manager's office.

(For the CPAEC's full recommendation, see "Community Preservation Act Exploratory Committee Gives Recommendations" in the January 5-12 edition of The Winchendon Courier. For complete information about the Community Preservation Act, see the website of the Community Preservation Coalition.)

Town Manager Updates BOS on Old Murdock Repairs

by Inanna Arthen
At their meeting on January 9, the Board of Selectmen heard an update from Town Manager Justin Sultzbach about the work completed at the Old Murdock Senior Center and the timeline for work going forward.

Mr. Sultzbach explained that a qualified contractor, Quality Restoration, Inc, had come in $16,000 under the estimate of $40,000 for the temporary repair work. "They did a pretty clean job, as you can see, it secures everything, any falling debris, and it also keeps the moisture out throughout the winter which is the whole goal," he said.

"Beyond that I just wanted to give the public an update in terms of a timeline for the next year or so, because I think a lot of people are kind of curious where we're at with that," Mr. Sultzbach continued. "So unfortunately, it wasn't a matter of receiving the funding back at the Annual Town Meeting in 2021 and then just going right to work. We had to secure an Operations Project Manager (OPN) because of the value of the contract by Mass General Law. After that we went through a process to secure a designer architect," Russo Barr Associates Inc.

"What we're looking at for a timeline is with our allowable budget of one and a half million dollars, the OPN fee, the architect, Phase One, Two and Three, as well as emergency repairs that we just did, we should have about a million dollars left in hand for construction costs," Mr. Sultzbach predicted. "So we're going to be doing the design throughout this winter. It's going to be going out to bid as early as March. And then based on the contractors' availability, they could start pretty much as early as April, but no later than June. That's something we're gonna have in the RFP, so you're gonna see that building dressed with scaffolding, masons up there, as well as roofers working on the slate roof this summer, that is going to happen.

"From there, the next step would be identifying how much Phase Two is going to cost and then securing that at the Special Town Meeting coming up in the fall. If that is appropriated, and that work is complete, I would say going down would probably follow the same pattern of being designed for the winter, carried on in summer. And then once again, we'd come back for a third tranche, depending on what Phase Three would look like and then the Old Murdock will be complete. So it's probably like a three year project."

Mr. Sultzbach emphasized, "So we're committed to going through the design-bid-build process, which historically we hadn't been doing in recent memory in town, which put us in the unfortunate position of having to repeatedly go back to the taxpayers asking for more money for projects, which we will not be doing any more." The town will have a definitive cost in hand before going before voters to approve funding.

Passing of the Torch as K-9 Clyde Passes, K-9 Blitz Makes the Grade

K-9 Clyde at his retirement ceremony with Board of Selectmen Chair Audrey LaBrie and his handler, Officer Wironen
Photo copyright ©Town of Winchendon

K-9 Blitz posing after achieving his certification at NESPAC training school.
Photo copyright ©Winchendon Police Dept

by Inanna Arthen
The Winchendon Police Department was sad to announce that retired K-9 Clyde passed away on January 5, 2023.

"Clyde served the Winchendon community dutifully for seven years alongside his partner Officer James Wironen," the PD posted on Facebook. "Clyde served with selfless enthusiasm whenever called upon; assisting in drug raids, criminal apprehensions, and tracking lost citizens. We owe him a debt of gratitude and will always remember the example he set for the Winchendon Police K9 program. Thank you for your loyal service Clyde. May you rest in peace, you've earned it."

"I think people particularly appreciate the notion of 'man's best friend' being a part of the police force. The public was grateful that Clyde bore responsibility of providing a watchful eye over the town and his fellow officers on the department," Winchendon Police Chief Dan Wolski told the Gardner News. "It was reassuring for the people to know that the department's chances of apprehending a dangerous criminal, or finding a lost person, was increased as a result of having Clyde."

Clyde had been honored with a proclamation and a plush dog bed by the Board of Selectmen on August 15, 2022, when he retired. He was a beloved presence in town, appearing for demos at Fall Fest, Summer Solstice Fair, and other events.

For the last two years of his service, Clyde battled lymphoma, which sidelined him for periods of time. A true fighter, he returned to active duty repeatedly after treatment. Businesses, organizations and citizens donated money and held fundraisers to help pay for his chemotherapy.

With some big pawprints to fill, new K-9 officer Blitz and his handler, Officer Wironen, received their New England State Police Administrators Conference (NESPAC) certification on January 10. The 560-hour patrol school course included tracking/trailing, obedience, criminal apprehension and evidence recovery. The Massachusetts State Police K-9 unit and its trainers instructed the class and the Rhode Island State Police K-9 unit evaluated the teams.

We look forward to seeing K-9 Blitz show off his skills at Solstice Fair this June!

The holidays may be over, but festive displays are still brightening Toy Town's winter nights. The gazebo at G.A.R. Park by Old Murdock continues to be radiant with warm colors, inviting passers-by to take a (chilly) seat.
Photo by Keith Kent

Still in full holiday display, the Orange Whitney House at 122 Pleasant Street represents some of the very best in Toy Town winter seasonal themes, tastefully mixed with its Colonial design architecture. Its blue glow can be seen as far away as the YMCA track off of Central Street.
Photo by Keith Kent

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