Due to a noticing error, a planned bond to build a new police station won’t be on the New Ipswich ballot this year – but a newly submitted petition article seeks to accomplish the same goal.
Currently, the town rents office space on Turnpike Road as its police station.
Originally, the Select Board planned to present a warrant article in March asking to bond $1.98 million to build a new police facility behind the town offices. However, during Monday night’s bond hearing, Selectman John Veeser announced the town had mistakenly noticed the public hearing for the bond in the Jan. 14 Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – missing the seven-day notification deadline required by the state.
The town legally can’t move forward with the bonding process under those circumstances, even if the town votes in favor in March, Veeser explained.
Typically, this would leave the town with only the choices to either put the plan off another year, or to call a special town meeting later in the year. However, Selectman Bert Hamill has submitted a petition article, hoping to still secure funds for a police station in 2020.
The article would raise $2.5 million over the next four years, if voters approved it. The article specifies up to $500,000 may be taken from the unexpended fund balance, and the remaining $2 million would be raised by taxes over the next four years, and stored in a capital reserve fund until all the funds are raised.
Hamill’s article does not specify precisely how much would be raised from year to year, which he said he did deliberately to allow the Select Board leeway in their funding plans.
However, Veeser said his fellow board members weren’t in favor of the article.
Veeser said considering the voting track record for a new police station, he didn’t think it was feasible the voters would support raising such a steep amount over the next four years for a new police station. A bond, which is paid back over 10, 15, or more likely 20 years, is less strenuous on the tax rate, and the town has struggled to gain the support needed for that.
“I don’t think we’re going to get $500,000 out of voters for the next four years,” Veeser said.
Budget Advisory Committee member Jeff McCabe agreed. “I’m the liberal crazy on the crew, and I would not recommend this,” he said.
Hamill said he knew the article would be “a long-shot, at best,” but wanted the option on the warrant this year.
Resident Jim Coffey encouraged the board to have the article reviewed by the town’s lawyer, as he said the wording of the article may not be enforceable.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.