SALISBURY — The Board of Finance unanimously recommended sending a long-discussed $611,000 plan to relocate the historic Lakeville Train Station on Ethan Allen Street to a town meeting.
The board voted during a special meeting Wednesday, Aug. 19. The proposal will go before voters at a town meeting in mid-September.
Comptroller Joe Cleaveland said the $611,000 bid from Burlington Construction can be covered with funds in a debt reduction line in the current budget without negatively impacting the town’s ability to pay off its existing debt.
Finance board member Emily Vail said the board would therefore have to approve using funds designated for one purpose to pay for the move.
First Selectman Curtis Rand said the plan is to move the building back 19 feet, construct a new foundation and basement, and raise the building overall.
Rand said the most obvious problem is that box trucks making deliveries to the three restaurants on Ethan Allen Street have repeatedly hit the train station roof. It has happened six times in the last few years, he said.
Rand also said the existing intersection is confusing and chaotic, posing a threat to public safety.
“It’s very busy,” he said. “You’ve got the three restaurants, kids, bicycles, traffic from the Grove.”
The town has put up concrete barriers to prevent trucks from hitting the roof, which has further narrowed the roadway.
Rand said he doesn’t see an alternative to moving the building.
“I don’t want someone getting hit on my watch,” he said.
There was no public comment on the topic.
In a show of support for the move, board member Keith Moon said the existing intersection is a combination of a parking lot, road and delivery spot. “It seems inherently dangerous,” he said.
If voters approve the plan, work to relocate the station could begin as early as the fall.
The town meeting is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 16.
Dick Hermans in the Oblong Bookstore on Millerton’s Main Street in 1985.Provided
