Town Meeting voters turned down an article which would have directed the Lyndeborough Select Board to endorse the relocation of the Wilton Ambulance, calling for more information before they back the plan.
Moderator Walter Holland said due to incoming snowy weather, the voters took up the final article on the warrant – the ambulance relocation – immediately after the budget, to ensure that stakeholders from the ambulance could be there and contribute to the discussion.
Holland said voters spent about 10 minutes on the town’s $2.4 million budget before passing it, and more than an hour on the discussion of the ambulance, noting it was far and away the most-contentious issue discussed on Saturday.
Wilton Ambulance, which serves both Lyndeborough and Greenfield, has proposed moving the ambulance service from its current location at 404 Forest Road to combine with the Wilton Fire Station. The move resolves life safety issues with the current building, as well as placing it more centrally to Wilton’s population center, but at the same time, would put response time in areas of Lyndeborough and Greenfield farther away by about five minutes.
Response time was a key issue for some voters, Holland said, and generally, residents said they did not have enough information about the pros and cons to make a decision on the issue. There were no amendments made to the article, Holland said, but several voters asked that the board continue to explore the issue more in-depth, and provide additional information about cost savings, benefits and impacts to response times.
Following the discussion of the ambulance, voters moved swiftly through the remainder of the warrant, most of which were requests to add to capital reserves.
“There was little to no discussion and we were out of there a little before noon,” Holland said, of the passing of the remainder of the warrant.
Only one article requested the purchase of a vehicle using capital reserve funds this year – the purchase of a one-ton truck for the Highway Department. Voters agreed to use $77,000 from the town’s capital reserves, raised in previous years for this purpose, to replace the 2016 truck and sell the old vehicle.
The town also agreed to change the purpose of the 2016 one-ton truck capital reserve to start saving for the eventual replacement of the new vehicle. The account’s name and purpose was changed to the Repair and Replacement of the 2022 One-Ton Truck Capital Reserve Fund. To change the purpose of a capital reserve account, a two-thirds majority is required. Holland said the count was done by a show of hands, but was unanimous, 43-0 in favor.
Voters approved nine capital reserve requests for the future replacement of town vehicles: $18,000 for the 2020 dump truck replacement, $22,500 for the 2008 backhoe replacement, $10,000 for bridge replacements, $21,000 for the 2018 dump truck replacement, $21,000 for the backhoe/loader replacement, $11,000 for the 2016 mid-size dump truck replacement, $8,000 for the 2016 one-ton truck replacement, $10,000 for fire equipment, $31,000 for the 2005 fire department pumper replacement and $26,000 for the 1994 fire department pumper replacement.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.