NORTH ANDOVER — Residents will vote on whether to borrow money to build a new police station and preschool at Town Meeting on Tuesday.
Paying for the two projects has generated debate between Town Manager Mark Rees and the Finance Committee.
Rees, supported by selectmen, has said the money can be paid back within the town budget. The Finance Committee disagrees, saying the town can't afford the debt from the two projects because other costs will likely rise over the next few years.
The projects are just two of more than 40 articles to be decided at Town Meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. at the high school.
Police have raised concerns that their station is cramped, outdated and deteriorating. School Committee Chairman Barbara Whidden said a new preschool is necessary because no more space is available at the elementary schools, meaning that everything including libraries and locker rooms is being converted into classrooms. The state mandates that schools provide preschool education for children with special needs alongside their typically developing peers.
Rees and selectmen have advocated for a plan that would pay for a new police station and 10-room preschool by borrowing money and paying it back within the budget over the next 20 years, starting in fiscal year 2010.
The police station would go in an already existing building, the former Merrimack Valley Credit Union on Route 125. It would cost $7.5 million, with more than $885,000 already available within the budget.
The 10-classroom preschool would be built next to Atkinson Elementary School at a cost of $4 million, with more than $2 million already available from other sources.
Rees said he thinks the two projects should be part of the budget, because even in tough times a town can't ignore its infrastructure.
"What I am trying to protect is that slice of the pie," Rees said. "It deserves equal billing with the operating expenses."
The Finance Committee supports both projects. However, its members said because of rising costs, the town can't afford to put the debt from the projects into the budget without layoffs and cuts in future years. The committee is recommending that the projects be taken out of the Capital Plan based on the projections about North Andover's future budget, using numbers that are more conservative than the Town Manager.
"We recommend unfavorable action on those two items," said Finance Committee Chairman Douglas Swatski.
Swatski said the Finance Committee suggested the police station and preschool can be paid for with a debt exclusion override that would raise property taxes above the state limit of 21/2 percent. Swatski said the Finance Committee will not ask voters for an override, but said anyone can forward a motion for an override to give voters an alternative way to pay for the two projects.
Town Meeting would have to approve the override; then selectmen would have to vote to put it to a townwide vote. Then voters would have to approve the override at the ballot box.
Selectmen have spoken out against asking voters for an override, saying it is unlikely to pass.
Proposed police station:
Suggested location: Merrimack Valley Credit Union Building.
Cost: $5.7 million; $885,000 is already available.
What police are saying about conditions of their current station:
r Outdated building from 1967.
r Mold growing.
r All employees, men and women, share one toilet.
r No place to talk to victims privately.
r Evidence room is a storage closet.
r Men and women share a locker room.
r Animal control officer in makeshift office in boiler room.
r No place for employees to shower if contaminated by chemicals.
r Storage trailer has bugs and had rodents.
Proposed preschool
Suggested location: Next to the Atkinson Elementary School
Cost: $4 million; $2 million already available.
Why School Department is advocating for preschool building:
r State mandates integrated preschool with small class size for special education students.
r Students with severe needs require special classrooms and smaller class size.
r Preschoolers are taking up six classrooms at two elementary schools.
r Elementary schools are short on space, so libraries, art rooms, music rooms, office space and resource rooms have been converted to classrooms.
r All the specialists and students can be at the same location.
r All the specialized equipment can be at the same location.
r The preschool can be accredited and eligible for grant money.
