Residents vote on Prop 2 1/2 exclusion, selectman
ASHBY » The town is having a special election today to fill a vacancy on the Board of Selectmen and decide whether or not to approve a Prop 2K exclusion to raise $6.9 million to construct a new public safety building.
Most people in town understand the need for a new police station. It has operated at 893 Main St. out of a former modular classroom since 1996, has a leaking roof and no place to hold an arrestee.
However, it’s the cost that separates the two sides of the exclusion issue.
The two candidates for the open selectman seat are Cathy Biliouris and Paul F. Lasorsa and they are on separate sides of the exclusion issue.
Biliouris is supporting the exclusion and the $6.9 million it will raise while Lasorsa is against it, but both believe the town needs a new police department.
And it’s there the two separate on the issue.
Biliouris, 62, believes the police department should be a part of the proposed public safety building that includes room for the fire department and its equipment, EMS and Office of Emergency Management.
Her primary reason for including the other departments in the facility is that the town has already spent nearly $600,000 on the architectural drawings and preparing the bid documents for construction.
“We need to use that $590,000 as the foundation for the building,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean we should spend the entire $6.9 million on the building. I believe it can be functional and at a lower cost.”
Lasorsa, 74, who served as a town selectman from 1992 to ’95, believes the town just needs a new police department.
His primary concern is about the increase in taxes that would occur if the exclusion passes.
Current estimates are that ho
meowners with the town’s average property value, which is $267,000, would pay an additional $196 per year during the life of the 40-year loan to finance the public safety building’s construction.
That tax increase is what worries Lasorsa.
“We have residents on fixed incomes who will have a tough time with higher taxes,” he said.
However, he knows the police department needs a new home and said if the exclusion doesn’t pass on Tuesday, he would support starting over again with a focus on just building a new police department, even if includes a new exclusion that would finance less than $4 million for the construction.
As for the candidates, Biliouris and Lasorsa are running to fill the unexpired term of Scott Sweeny, who resigned from the board last year. Whoever wins will join current Selectmen Mike McCallum and Dave Nadeau. The seat will be contested again in about 16 months.
Biliouris, who has been with her wife for 38 years, said her primary reason for running for the open seat is trying to create harmony on the select board.
“The town is making no progress and we have selectmen who argue with each other and don’t work for finding solutions for our challenges,” she said, adding that she will also be looking closely at the town’s finances.
“I’ll be looking at our entire tax base and looking for allocations that can be redistributed in order to avoid expenses,” she said.
For Lasorsa, he just wants to be the “voice for the regular people.”
Retired from his last job as a construction manager
for the Target Corp., Lasorsa said his experience in managing construction budgets for new stores that ranged between $10 and $20 million provides him the experience to tackle some of the financial issues facing the town.
“I’ll be working to help those on fixed incomes
and finding new ways to generate income for the town,” said Lasorsa, who has been married for 52 years and has four grown children.
Town residents can casts their ballots from 12:30 to 7 p.m. today at Maja Hall, which is located at 47 Erickson Road.