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NORTHBRIDGE, Mass. – Friday noon is the deadline for submitting articles for the warrant for the Fall Annual Town Meeting, to be held Tuesday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. at the Northbridge Middle School.
To date, the preliminary warrant contains 15 articles, including two proposed by the Northbridge School Committee: One seeks funding to replace the gymnasium floor at the Balmer School, the other financing to install about 45,000 square feet of sod at Lasell Field.
Replacing the gymnasium floor has a price tag of between $38,000 and $49,000. The sod project's cost is estimated at $33,250.
The Board of Selectmen is proposing several warrant articles, many of which are meant to prepare the town for the future.
One asks voters to authorize selectmen to acquire, by purchase, gift or eminent domain, permanent easements and temporary construction easements for the reconstruction of Sutton Street, scheduled to begin in 2013.
Easements are also sought for a drainage swale on Sutton Street and for work on Douglas Road to maintain the bridge and roadway.
Selectmen will also ask for funding to purchase property for a new Department of Public Works facility. Property on Douglas Road, which had been considered as a new DPW site a year ago, is back on the market at a lower cost.
The hope is renovating that the existing structure on Douglas as a DPW building will cost less than the approximate $8 million project proposed for the existing DPW building on Fletcher Street.
That article also authorizes the Board of Selectmen to apply for state or federal grants and/or loans to be used in support of the project.
Selectmen are also looking for funding to repair the concrete apparatus floor abutments at the Rockdale Fire Station and to petition the legislature to establish a building maintenance fund with proceeds from solar PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreements.
The Planning Board has submitted two articles for the warrant, one asking to amend the Northbridge Zoning Bylaws and two others asking voters to accept Sandtrap Court and Shining Rock Drive as public ways.
The Town Meeting will be held Tuesday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. at the Northbridge Middle School.
Comments (1)
It would have been helpful to see some dollar
estimates on the Selectmen's warrants.