CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Voters will decide a $5.4 million budget at the annual town meeting on Wednesday night and whether to take out a half-million loan to put a new roof on the school. 

 

Town meeting takes place beginning at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in the school cafeteria. The warrant can be found here.

 

School and town officials have been debating for months how to address continued infrastructure needs at the 60-year-old building. The issue took a critical turn earlier this year when the roof began springing leaks and buckets appeared in classrooms. 

 

The conversation over whether to rebuild or renovate was put on the back burner as officials moved forward with plans to at least get the roof fixed. 

 

Article 12 will require a two-thirds vote at town meeting to authorize borrowing for the roof's design and construction. It will also require a special ballot election to exclude the borrowing from Proposition 2 1/2. This was most recently done when the town took out $1 million in 2019 for work on the roads and the school. The debt on that has been cleared. 

 

The bid the for roof was granted to Wooliver & Sons, pending borrowing approval. Article 13 asks to transfer $113,371 from the school roof stabilization fund for use in the roof replacement.

 

Officials have been concerned that while the bid from Wooliver is $400,000, the extent of repair will not be known until the work begins his summer.