Final hurdle cleared

During a rescission vote Tuesday at St. Leo’s Church Hall, voters resoundingly chose to uphold their March vote in favor of the complex. The 917-493 vote against rescission authorizes a $2.95 million bond for construction of a $4.98 million complex at 28 North Main St.

Long Term Recovery Director Barb Farr, who’s been working as a liaison between municipal officials and project architects, said she’s pleased with the voter turnout and the results. About 40 percent of the town’s 3,533 registered voters participated.

“It was an excellent turnout on the vote in general, and it’s fair to say that the people’s choice has been heard and, respectfully, we can move forward for our community,” she said.

Municipal Manager Bill Shepeluk said the vote results speak for themselves.

“I’m happy there’s been a decisive decision,” he said. “The community is sending a message that it’s time to move forward with the project.”

While there’s no such thing as a “perfect project,” Shepeluk said the voters made it clear that the Municipal Building Committee and the select board listened to their concerns.

Linda Parks, who opposes the project, said Wednesday she and many other Waterbury residents felt having the opportunity to reconsider the bond was necessary.

“They got that opportunity, but I think the revote speaks for itself,” she said Wednesday via email.

Parks said she worries the project will not be completed within its budget.

“I still feel that we are incurring unnecessary debt for an unnecessarily large project,” she said.

Voters originally approved the $2.95 million bond by a vote of 809-617 in March.

Shortly thereafter, opponents started circulating a petition calling for a rescission vote. In all, 253 signatures were collected, enough to force the rescission vote Tuesday.

The twice-approved bond money will help fund construction of new municipal offices, an expanded public library and space for the Waterbury Historical Society at the site of the current library, located in the historic Dr. Henry Janes House.

The town’s former municipal offices and police department at 51 South Main St. were flooded during Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011 and have been vacant ever since.

Temporary offices have been located above the Main Street Fire Station.

In June 2013, voters rejected a $5 million bond for a more expensive, $7.75 million municipal facility on State Office Complex land.

Following that vote, the town formed the Municipal Building Committee, which spent the next several months devising a plan that was less expensive, out of the floodplain and did not include space for village police — all concerns voiced by voters.

Moving forward

Last Thursday, a crowd of about 30 people gathered for a public hearing at Thatcher Brook Primary School, where some of the same questions about cost and location were rehashed.

A handful of the folks in attendance came forward to talk about why they did not support the municipal building project.

Bob Dain of Waterbury Center said the $1 million Community Development Block Grant being used to fund the project might be better spent outside of Waterbury.

Dain is also concerned about ever-rising property taxes and said he wonders if the community can really afford to finance the project.

Board member Chris Viens said while he understands Dain’s concerns, the time to move forward with the project is now.

“The reason I decided to … stand behind this proposal is I don’t think that it’s going to get any cheaper down the road at any point,” he said. “So, I want to get it over with and move forward. We’ve got a lot of other problems in this town.”

Now that the bond is approved, the select board will be issuing requests for proposals from construction management services to see the complex project through to completion.

The board plans to notify the selected candidate on June 13.

Rescission repeat

Voters in Waterbury may have been feeling a sense of déjà vu when casting their ballots, as it wasn’t the first time in the municipality’s history that voters faced a rescission decision.

At least three other rescission votes have taken place over the last decade.

In November 2004, voters initially approved a merger of the town and village, but then overturned that vote the following January.

In August 2005, in another rescission vote, residents of both Waterbury and Duxbury upheld a vote in support of a $5.5 million bond for improvements to Thatcher Brook Primary School.

In 2009, Waterbury residents overturned a vote for a $5.8 million bond to build two new fire stations.