Salisbury voters say yes to transfer station plan

SALISBURY — Voters approved the plan for building a new transfer station, at a town meeting Friday, March 11, by a vote of 69 to 15.

The meeting started a little after 7 p.m. 

Len Stewart was chosen as moderator.

After Town Clerk Patty Williams read the call, First Selectman Curtis Rand went through a side presentation on the transfer station, after first asking if the crowd wanted to go straight to discussion and voting.

The response to that was inconclusive, so Rand went ahead, promising to make it quick.

There were questions during the presentation. Rand said the offer of a federal grant ($343,884) and a loan ($1,567,000) to build the transfer station was a first for the federal Department of Agricuture.

“The USDA has never funded a regional transfer station before. We told them we should be the first,” Rand said to laughter from the audience.

(The grant covers 18 percent of the construction costs. The loan is over 40 years, at 1.87 percent interest, with no pre-payment penalty if the town decides to pay it back faster.)

Asked what the annual payment would be, Rand said about $56,000 per year.

Asked what the impact would be on property taxes, Board of Finance Chairman Bill Willis said $56,000 per year “will not have an impact on the mill rate.”

“We’ve been planning for several years for a project cost far more than this,” Willis explained. “We have funds set aside for long-term debt obligations.”

Residents from Belgo Road and Indian Orchard Road expressed concern about the impact on their view, about lighting, and about noise.

Rand said, “I’ve given my word we’ll do everything we can to screen this” from view. He said the facility will continue to close at 4 p.m., with minimal impact of lights on the night sky.

One questioner said the original plan was for an enclosed building. 

Rand said the Transfer Station Building Committee considered, and ultimately rejected, that idea, for a variety of reasons — including traffic flow and the maintenance expenses of a building with large overhead doors.

Rand emphasized that the transfer station plan is not final — the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Department of Transportation still need to sign off, and the plan will then go to the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

After the presentation the vote on the first and main agenda item — “to consider and vote upon the expenditure of an amount not to exceed $1,910,884 for a transfer station …” was taken with a paper ballot.

Afterward, people started milling around and talking. Stewart had to use the gavel to bring the meeting back to order.

The second and third items — to accept the USDA grant and loan — passed by unanimous voice vote.

The vote on a final item — to approve the loan resolution — was taken by a show of hands. (Rand explained this was done at the request of the town’s attorney, in order to have a specific vote count for the record.)

By the time that was completed — the vote was 54-0 — the results of the paper ballot were ready.

The paper ballot vote was 69-15, with a total of 84 voters.