PRINCETON — A well-attended virtual session of the public discussion group known as Town Buzz covered a range of topics Sept. 22, from the proposed Public Safety Building to lowering the town’s speed limits.
The Town Buzz is an informal online gathering of whichever residents wish to log in to the meeting, but there are no votes taken by any town officials.
Not unexpectedly, the first topic was how to structure voting for a new Public Safety Building. Debate centered on whether voters at the special town meeting planned for November should act simply on funding $1 million for design documents or attempt to fund construction at the same time.
Advisory Board member Holly Burgess, who likened the process to buying a house, favored separating the two issues so that residents would have time to digest the details and make a more informed vote.
The design documents are a $1 million deposit on the “house,” she said, adding that it’s a nonrefundable deposit.
Select Board member Robert Cumming, who is a liaison to the Public Safety Building Committee, said the board has yet to discuss whether to put forward an article for design or one that includes both design and construction.
So far the Public Safety Building Committee favors putting the $1 million design document forward.
If there is need for a debt exclusion, any article would have to be approved by a 2/3 majority of voters at the ballot box.
Select Board member Richard Bisk said it could be possible in that case, that the town spends $1 million on plans that do not get used, should construction funding fail to pass.
“Which could be the argument for everything — plans and construction,” Bisk said.
Resident Neil Mcinnis pointed out that even the expenditure of $1 million is “a huge amount of money for this tiny town.”
He called it an implicit commitment. Bisk countered that the town would not know the cost of the project until it had a plan. Select Board chair Karen Cruise pointed out that the project is not exactly like building a house because the town will be tied to the requirements of state and federal agencies.
Advisory Committee member Helga Lyons asked if any grant money was available in the state infrastructure bill. Cruise responded that state Rep. Kimberly Ferguson, R-Holden, told her there is not “a lot of insight yet” into that.
Fire Capt. William Dino said the town has been “kicking the can” down the road for years and eventually will run out of options because the infrastructure of the current station is failing.
Another messy topic addressed by the group was the town’s approved trash haulers: Waste Management, E.L. Harvey Waste & Recycling and Republic Services.
Resident James Marsden, a customer of Republic, said his recycling had not been picked up in three months, and he was unable to sign on as a customer with another approved provider, a claim backed up by another resident via the chat.
Claire Golding of the Waste and Recycling Committee advised him to contact Health Board secretary Terri Longtine at Town Hall for help.
“Each hauler has to sign an agreement with the town that they will provide recycling and trash pickup on a weekly or biweekly basis,” she said. Golding said she would also contact Longtine.
Resident Ronald Curry said there was a noticeable increase in speeding along Mountain Road, and thanked the Select Board and Sgt. Thebeau.
Curry agreed with Thebeau that it is a minority of people that are speeding, but others spoke up about problems on many roads in town.
“The speeding is everywhere, so where do I sit?” Thebeau asked. “I’m the only guy working, and there’s problems everywhere.”
Lyons asked about the status of Mechanics Hall becoming a retail sale marijuana site.
Cruise said that she and Town Administrator Sherry Patch are meeting with people from Red Cardinal in October.
