The town of Duxbury is pursuing a 10-year $250,000 bond to fund repairs on the Duxbury town garage. The decision to pursue this bond was made at a Duxbury Select Board meeting on January 11.
At previous meetings, Duxbury Select Board members acknowledged that structural repairs on the town garage were long overdue and agreed that the town needed to tackle repairs as soon as possible. At first, the board considered doing piecemeal-style repairs, fixing the garage year by year in $50,000 chunks.
However, the board ultimately decided to pursue a 10-year bond.
“The 10-year bond seems to be the best for us right now,” said recently appointed select board member Dawn Poitras. “But I’m not interested in raising the bond more than 250,000 for that building.”
“I mirror Dawn’s opinion, 250,000 for a 10-year bond,” said select board chair Kevin Garcia.
That night, the select board voted unanimously to bring a 10-year $250,000 bond to Duxbury voters.
In order to pursue a bond, the select board is required to hold a bond-based public hearing before Town Meeting Day. At the January 11 meeting, the board proposed holding the hearing at the same time as its pre-Town Meeting Day informational meeting, which will take place on February 26 at 6 p.m. The board is also working on a way to bring an in-person component to that meeting, ideally in the gymnasium of the Crossett Brook Middle School. Details will be forthcoming.
FIRE CONTRACT
At the January 11 meeting, select board members also voted to renew the town’s contract with the Waterbury Fire Department, which allows the Waterbury Fire Department to serve Duxbury in the event of a fire.
The decision of whether or not the renew the fire contract has been a point of contention for Duxbury Select Board members in the past, as they have pushed back at the increasing cost of the service. This year, the cost of fire safety service went up again, from last year’s $114,100 to this year’s final figure of $115,782.
“We expected an increase,” said Garcia. “This has been a bone of contention before; it’s come around and around and around.”
However, the board ultimately decided that renewing the contract would be in the best interest of Duxbury residents. The board voted unanimously to renew the contract that night.
“When your house is burning up, you’re going to want them here, so I’m all for it,” said select board member Dan Schillhammer.
