Preston set to vote on resident trooper

Town meeting scheduled for Jan. 25

Preston — Residents will get the chance to vote at both a town meeting and potentially a referendum on whether to hire a second resident state trooper for the remainder of the current fiscal year, as the issue will be presented along with a proposed $3.47 million five-year capital projects proposal.

The Board of Selectmen agreed Thursday to schedule the town

meeting for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, and the referendum for Tuesday, Feb. 6. The specific language for the questions will be set next week.

The town received a petition in fall requesting a second resident state trooper, cut from the budget last spring, be restored for the remainder of this fiscal year. The issue has been delayed by the initial reluctance of the Board of Finance to approve necessary funding. The new finance board elected in November approved $61,000 for the salary and benefits starting in early January.

With the vote now planned for Feb. 6, the amount would be reduced to about $50,000, First Selectman Robert Congdon said. Because the cost is less than $100,000, the measure would not need a referendum, but Congdon recommended placing the question on the Feb. 6 referendum ballot.

A referendum would bring a bigger voter turnout and would give selectmen a better idea of whether they should place the second trooper in the proposed 2018-19 town budget, Congdon said.

Voters in October narrowly rejected a $3.84 million proposed five-year capital projects package by 14 votes.

The Board of Finance last week pared down the package to $3.477 million — not including bonding and interest costs — and will present it to voters at the Jan. 25 town meeting and the Feb. 6 referendum.

The package includes $1.15 million for the fire department, including $550,000 to replace a 1989 pumper firetruck, $360,000 to replace a 1993 tanker firetruck, $40,000 to replace a first-responder service truck and $205,000 for 23 self-contained breathing apparatus.

School transportation costs would total $1.2 million, including replacing 11 school buses for $981,100, spread out over the five years — starting with three new buses in the first year. Two nine-passenger vans would cost $77,600, a vehicle equipped with a wheelchair lift, $77,000, and the package includes $95,000 to repave the bus garage parking lot.

School improvement projects total $595,881 in the plan, most of that at the Preston Plains Middle School, including $187,500 to repair the middle school roof, $110,000 to repair the parking area, $105,110 to upgrade the science labs and $28,500 to replace 165 lockers at the middle school.

At the Preston Veterans’ Memorial School, the package includes $118,000 to replace the gymnasium floor and $46,771 to resurface the playground.

Public Works Department equipment would cost $496,000, including $160,000 to replace a salt truck, $156,000 to replace a loader, $65,000 to replace a plow truck, $65,000 to replace a roadside mower and $50,000 to replace a roadside tractor.

Board of Finance Chairwoman Melissa Lennon wrote a three-page description of the proposed capital plan, posted on the town website, preston-ct.org.

In the write-up, Lennon wrote that the tax impact of the proposed capital projects bond would be minimal in the annual debt service portion of the town budget. Two current large bond payments in the budget, including construction of the Veterans’ Memorial School, will be paid off in 2020. The new capital bond would start in 2019.