Temple has called an special Town Meeting for June 22 to see if voters wish to rescind a vote made in March designating a piece of land for a new location for the Highway Department.
Sixty-five residents submitted a petition calling for the meeting, and under New Hampshire RSA 39:3, a special Town Meeting can be called after a petition signed by 50 or more voters, or one-fourth of the voters, whichever is fewer, in towns of under 10,000 residents.
The Highway Department is currently located behind Town Hall. In March, voters approved an warrant article to designate a five-acre portion of a 65-acre lot, known as the Skladany land off Route 45, as the new location for the town’s Highway Department. The vote was 78-49.
When the issue goes back before voters at special Town Meeting, they will have the opportunity to vote on two articles.
The first is to repeal the vote taken in March related to locating the new department on the Skladany land. The article asks for the repeal, “in an effort to ascertain the long-term interests of Temple, until other options can be thoroughly evaluated regarding the relocation of the highway department…”
A second article would establish a committee “for the purpose of evaluating all options pertaining to the current highway department site,” which, according to the article, would include conducting a feasibility study and a cost analysis. The findings of the committee would not be binding, but would be submitted to the members of the Select Board for future consideration.
“We expect it to be a well-attended meeting,” Select Board Chair Bill Ezell said Tuesday.
Ezell said the original article in March was controversial.
“Just like politics, it seems to be an almost 50-50 split between people that want to move it, and those that don’t,” he said.
If the articles are approved, Ezell said the committee would likely focus on the department’s current location, and its issues, and not moving the department. The Select Board was split on its recommendation of the March warrant article, voting to recommend it 2-1.
Ezell said the Highway Department’s current location, behind both Town Hall and the Mansfield Public Library, has caused traffic safety issues in the past. The building itself is dated and in need of renovations or replacement, and during those discussions, the town began to look for alternative locations for the building and using the area behind Town Hall as expanded parking for town events.
“There have been times when an event has been going on, that the plows needed to get out, and they couldn’t,” Ezell said. “The other reason is part of some broader planning that’s been in discussion for downtown Temple, including providing a parking area up there, to relieve parking issues we’ve been told people have during large events.”
The Skladany land has several benefits, Ezell said, including the fact that it is already owned by the town, is across the street from the town’s municipal offices and has ready access to the town’s main highway.
In prior discussions and during Town Meeting, opponents of the move protested the impact to land values in the area, and the expense of building a new garage compared to the cost of improving the current space.
The warrant article approved in March only allocated the location, but Ezell said other preparation work was anticipated to be underway this summer, in anticipation of applying for grants or presenting a plan for constructing a new garage at a future Town Meeting, including building an access road, surveying the land and creating a building design.
The town has not officially received any estimates for the cost of building a new highway garage, though former Road Agent Tim Fiske remarked during Town Meeting that it would be a minimum of $700,000. Ezell said the town hopes that in laying the groundwork now, it will open doors to grant funding when it comes time to actually build the project.
“There’s a tremendous amount of federal funding available. If we can get a shovel-ready plan, then we would apply for federal or state money to pay for the bulk of it,” Ezell said.
Ezell said since the town received the petition, that work has been suspended and whether it will move forward will depend on the outcome of the special Town Meeting.
The special Town Meeting is scheduled for June 22 at 7 p.m. at the Temple Elementary School.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.