At the ballot box this Tuesday, a substantial majority said ‘no’ to borrowing additional money to pay for the renovation of Town Hall whose cost–excluding the cost of borrowing—has increased by 25 percent since midsummer. While the vote is clear, its meaning is less so.
This week the Press sampled the opinions of a small number of residents, asking them what message the Selectmen should take from the vote. The bottom line of this admittedly small group was that the Selectmen need to find a way to make do with the roughly $3.5 million that remains of the amount appropriated by voters in 2012. Whether this is an opinion shared by a majority of those who voted ‘no’ is unknown, and whether it is even feasible remains to be tested.
At the same time, it is important to recognize that 649 voters—or 44 percent of those who turned out—were ready to bear the extra costs of the current design. They were a minority on Tuesday but not an insignificant one.
The Selectmen now have the unenviable task of helping the two sides on this question find common ground, preserving what’s best in the work done by three successive building committees and their architect, at a cost that voters agree is within our means. It’s also time, in our opinion, for opponents of the current design to say how they would use the available dollars to alter it in a way that wins the hearts and minds of voters, while meeting the needs of our town employees and volunteers. It’s time to come together and find a way forward. As one interviewee said this week, “If our elected leaders are divided, how can you expect otherwise from our citizens?”
