CHESHIRE, Mass. — Entering into a budget season that seems to start earlier and earlier lately, the Board of Selectmen is taking a hard look at the town's infrastructure. The majority of Tuesday night's meeting was spent discussing potential options for maintaining and improving the town's buildings and roads.

 

Selectwoman Michelle Francesconi raised the issue of the fire station, which recently had its roof repaired but is now experiencing some heating issues.

 

"The Fire Department heating system ... is actually the boiler from the State Police barracks when it was on Dalton Avenue. So it's not new obviously. I don't even remember the State Police barracks on Dalton Avenue," she said.

 

The board estimated the boiler to be at least 30-35 years old. Chairman Robert Ciskowski puts it at closer to 40.

 

Francesconi wants to start looking beyond Band-Aid repairs.

 

"When do we stop throwing money into that building and start to focus on the future of a public safety building? The police station is not part of the boiler issue but it has its own issues as well. It's not a safe environment for law enforcement to be bringing in arrestees," she said. "We need to keep that at the forefront of our minds. I know the fire chief and police chief are as well."

 

Town Administrator Edmund St. John IV agrees with the need for a long-term fix. 

 

"The heating system at the Fire Department has a lot of years on it. It has been fixed along the years but basically just spot fixes. From what I've learned, it wouldn't appear to be a long-term heating system," he told the board.

 

Francesconi said there is also a problem at Town Hall that needs immediate attention.

 

"In the Board of Health office, there is water that is actively coming into the building. It's been going on for sometime. It feels like you're walking on a wet sponge at some points on the floor so there is definitely an issue," she said. "It's something we'll definitely have to address."

 

The conditions of Route 116 has been a hot-button issue lately with the board, and member Ron DeAngelis raised it again Tuesday night. It has been widely accepted that the town is responsible for the repairs and upkeep on the road but the board can't find any documentation confirming that as fact. With Chapter 90 funds inadequate to address everyday road issues, a reconstruction of 116 is considered completely unfeasible. 

 

DeAngelis wants to see the state step in.

 

"Somebody has to be able to show us how that road got transferred to the town of Cheshire. There has to be something. There has to be some kind of documentation. They might be telling us this because no one challenged it," he said. "Do we just own the plowing and minor maintenance? Or is it that we just own it forever?"

 

St. John brought up the prospect of applying to the state's Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). This would fund the reconstruction of 116 but the town would still be responsible for the engineering. Neighboring Adams is using the TIP program to get a portion of Route 8 resurfaced this year.

 

"You have to apply to TIP and also still pay for the engineering. They tend to go with jobs that are shovel-ready as well. I think we need to settle who owns the road first. The state did take responsibility for the road a few years ago when we had the washout," St. John said. "We told them we were just going to close the road and they came in." 

 

Ciskowski brought up the possibility of townwide road repairs being funded through a bond issue. He doesn't see the topic being taken up at the 2020 town meeting but wants residents to keep it in mind for 2021. He did voice some trepidation as to citizens' willingness to accept a Proposition 2 1/2 override or debt exclusion.

 

"This is a food for thought item. Let's say we're going to do, hypothetically, a road bond issue. Roads were a pretty high priority in the master plan. People recognize it as something we would like to have done. We as a board recognize it," he said. "About a week ago I was really taken aback by the override vote on the grader, that was close. (the town recently voted in favor of a debt exclusion of up to $195,000 to purchase a used piece of heavy equipment) That was 25 votes? What would we have to do to make it work if we went out for a road bond and had to exempt it? How would we ever get a big [expense] like that if we could barely get a grader?"

 

DeAngelis sees no downside to putting the matter before voters.

 

"Even if it loses, at least we tried and put it out in front of everybody. I don't think we should worry about it getting voted up or down. We should be the ones presenting it and let the town decide," he said.

 

Francesconi agreed and wants to keep the town's infrastructure issues in the spotlight.

 

"For the same reason I brought up the Fire Department heating system today. Repetitively bringing up that these are problems and this is how we need to address it. Not everybody always reads the articles, reads the minutes, or comes to the meetings," she said. "But at least it's something that people know we are looking to address at some point."

 

Ciskowski wants to look at how the town funds the upkeep and de-weeding of Cheshire Lake. The lake is state owned but the state does not contribute to general maintenance of the popular spot. Taxpayers foot the bill along with an extra "district tax" paid by those with frontage along the shore. Ciskowski feels this is fiscally unfair.

 

"The state owns the lake, some residents live on the lake, if you live and have frontage on the lake you pay a district tax. The district uses that money to fund their portion of the de-weeding. The other half of the deweeding comes from the town in general. The people that live on the lake that pay the district tax ... are taxpayers also. I think the people that live on it are being hit twice, in their taxes and in their district tax," he said. 

 

"That boat launch area is full of people not from Cheshire that are using that lake. The state maybe should be a partner. We're supplying the de-weeding, not only for residents and for people who live on it, but everybody else who uses that lake," he said. "I don't know if we can afford that. I would like to see the state become a full-time partner in the de-weeding."

 

Planning Board member and lake district resident Peter Traub pointed out that the state used to contribute to the de-weeding but it abruptly stopped years ago.

 

St. John said he was asked by a resident if the town could charge a boat launch fee as a way to raise funds.

 

"It's not ours, it's not our land. I don't know how we can do that," he answered. 

 

He then equated it to the Route 116 issue: "It's another example of 116 in that it's owned by the state yet the entire responsibility to maintain it falls to the town."

 

Outside of the approval of minutes from prior meetings, the board didn't vote on any issues Tuesday but certainly planted seeds in residents' minds as budget season approaches.

 

The next Cheshire Selectmen's meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 21.