DEERFIELD — Residents voted in January to appropriate nearly $3 million to repair and replace the Deerfield Elementary School roof.
There was just one catch.
That vote was contingent upon a debt-exclusion override vote, which is slated to be taken at the polls on Tuesday. Interim Deerfield Town Administrator Douglas C. Finn said voters will decide if they wish to exempt the town from the provisions of Proposition 2½, which prohibits town property taxes from increasing more than 2.5 percent in a year unless residents opt to override that limit. Residents will vote at Town Hall between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. during the presidential primary.
The lone ballot question asks if voters will exempt the town the amounts needed to pay for the bonds, labor and materials related to the DES roof project.
Deerfield Elementary School was built in 1992, with a 25-year life expectancy for its roof. The $2.9 million project involves stripping the current shingles and re-covering the roof sheathing with 2 inches of foam insulation and another layer of plywood before re-covering it with shingles. Deerfield Building Commissioner Richard Calisewski has said Raymond Design Associates was assigned to the project by the state and the Rockland-based firm was applying to the Massachusetts School Board Authority for reimbursement. He said reimbursement will likely cover $1.4 million of the $2.9 million.
Finn said once the project goes out to bond, it will likely cost the town $125,000 in the first year.
He noted that the Jan. 25 vote is null and void and the project stops if residents reject the override.
“It’s concerning, because it (would) put the repair of the school roof back a year. I won’t express an opinion or tell residents what to do, but we need people to get out and vote. We need people to participate in this decision,” Finn said.
You can reach Domenic Poli at:
dpoli@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 257.
On Twitter, follow @DomenicPoli
