Recreation was the focus of the second round of expenditures from American Rescue Plan Act relief grants approved by the Select Board Tuesday, including initial funding for turning the town’s former highway garage into a community center.
The town has a total of $568,000 available in grant funding, which has a wide range of allowed uses. During the April 12 meeting, the board approved $122,675 in expenses, including new radios and body armor for police, development of a new town master plan, air cleaners and electrical repairs for the Department of Public Works.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the board only approved two additional expenses, both aimed at recreation. The first expense was $29,268.68 for a new pool filter and drains.
“There’s been requests to have the filter of the pool replaced every year for I don’t know how many years, and it’s always been denied,” Select Board Chair Shawn Talbot said.
Town Administrator Debbie Deaton said the town had been putting “Band-Aids, Band-Aids, Band-Aids” on the problem for years.
Selectman Lou Alvarez questioned whether the new filter and drains could be installed prior to the start of this summer’s pool season. Talbot replied it would be unlikely, and would be a fall project.
The expense was approved 2-1 by Talbot and Alvarez. Selectman Jason Somero was opposed, as he has been for every expense previously approved by the board for the expenditure of ARPA funding, believing the town should not accept the federal funding at all.
Talbot also proposed using $30,000 of ARPA funding to do work on the former highway garage on Turnpike Road, across the street from Boynton Middle School, to turn the building into a community center.
Talbot said it could be a “glowing example” of how volunteers come together to create something great. He offered the same proposal during the April 12 meeting, but Alvarez said he would need more information before getting on board with the plan.
Initially, Alvarez held that same stance during Tuesday’s discussions, saying before he could sign on to spending the funds, he would like to know if the building would meet state standards, its occupancy limit, whether there was sufficient parking available and the status of the soil around the building, which would require testing to ensure it hasn’t been contaminated from its time as a highway garage.
“There might be some bigger problems. We need to look at it a little further,” Alvarez said.
Other options for a location for the community center were discussed, including the Old Town Hall on Main Street. The building, once only used a few times a year, has not been occupied at all for several years due to structural issues with the foundation. Board members discussed the building, but noted there were several issues, including lack of a water source or land to install a well or septic system, in addition to the structural issue.
Alvarez also suggested that if the town did eventually invest in building a new safety complex to encompass facilities for the fire, police and emergency management departments, the current fire station on Turnpike Road was also a possibility.
Talbot noted that the town has not settled on what the solution is for the facilities issues at the police or fire department, and even if a joint facility was the answer, it would be years down the road. He said the former garage was the best answer in the immediate future using town-owned property.
Somero also noted that running a community center would carry additional costs above whatever costs were associated with renovations to ready the building.
“This discussion entails a long-term cost. It becomes a lot more than $30,000 to fix the building,” Somero said.
Talbot said in past discussions on a possible community center, the goal has always been to have a mix of paid and free programming, and have every function either pay for itself or be covered by other profit-producing programs such as after-school care or camps.
“We want it all to be self-sufficient,” Talbot said. “It would still go down that road of self-sufficiency.”
Alvarez said he was still not ready to approve the full amount, but would approve a smaller amount as an initial investment to start investigating the property and taking some actions that would ready it for a possible future use as a community space. He proposed up to $7,000, and after Talbot agreed, and the amount was approved, again in a 2-1 vote.
The board also tasked Alvarez with speaking with Department of Public Works Director Peter Goewey about priority items on his list of requests for discussion at the next meeting.
Following the expenses approved Tuesday, the town has approved a total of $158,943 in APRA expenditures. Alvarez questioned Somero’s opposition to the grants, saying, “You’re thinking of yourself and not the people that elected you.”
Somero argued it was the opposite, and said an increase in the national debt was “everyone’s burden.”
Alvarez reminded Somero that if New Ipswich declines the funding, it is reallocated to other towns in the state, and is spent either way.
The board agreed to revisit the ARPA funding and a list of potential expenses provided by town departments at their next meeting, scheduled for April 26 at 5 p.m. in the town office.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.