Override defeat puts Millville in financial hole

2018 IN REVIEW: MILLVILLE Local barbershop chorus to hold open rehearsals

MILLVILLE — The defeat of a $1 million Proposition 2½ d operational override to close a $300,000 structural deficit and the layoffs and cuts to town services that followed was the major news story in Millville in 2018.

After the defeat of a tax override in June, the town implemented significant cuts in service, including eliminating municipal trash service; closing the Senior Center and laying off all its employees; r shutting off 64 percent of the

town’s street lights; cutting all d stipends; eliminating vacant positions; reducing town hall department hours; and laying off a full-time firefighter.

The override was being sought by the selectmen, Finance Committee and administration as part of a strategic financial plan to right-size the budget and reset the tax rate to address ongoing operational deficits due to continued use of one-time revenues to fund increases to the school budget. The selectmen and Finance Committee had repeatedly warned that the town could no longer balance the budget by using one-time “rainy day” revenues, which is why they advocated for the override. The tax override, they say, would have right-sized the budget and provided increases in the tax rate phased in over eight years to balance future budgets.

But a majority of the voters who went to the polls on June 19 rejected the measure by a vote of 589 to 339.

By November, the final tally on the cumulative budget deficit was $201,601, but with

PAWTUCKET — Harmony Heritage Chorus, the Pawtucket, chapter of Harmony, Incorporated, an international organization of female a cappella singers specializing in the barbershop harmony style, will hold open rehearsals every Tuesday evening, beginning on Jan. 8. Female singers of all ages and musical backgrounds are encouraged to attend. Rehearsal begins at 7:15 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 50 Park Place in Pawtucket.

“Almost every one of our members came for the music, but each of us stayed for the camaraderie and satisfaction that comes with contributing to an organization like the Harmony Heritage chorus,” says Kim Thompson, chapter president “We welcome women who nowhere else left to cut, the selectmen agreed to fill the financial gap and close the deficit with some of the $836,000 the town is in line to receive after selling nine town-owned parcels at public auction Oct. 30.

Here’s a look back at what else made news in Millville in 2018:

• The town signs a community host agreement with Blackstone Valley Cultivation Co. co-owners Cassandra Heneault and Lisa Cadan, who are applying for a cultivation license from the state to establish a marijuana growing and processing operation at 141 Lincoln St. The proposed cultivation and manufacturing facility would be located at 141 Lincoln St., which is a residential home in a “commercial business” zone that the company is under contract to purchase. If approved, the company would eventually construct a third 5,000-square-foot building for manufacturing and storage, followed by a 10,000-squarefoot building for cultivation.

• A retail cannabis company announces its proposal to open a cannabis retail store at Marty’s Liquors on Buxton Street. Garden Wonders are proposing to sublease 1,000-square feet of the existing brick-and-mortar store for the sale of cannabis. Family-owned and operated since 1948, Marty’s Liquors also has locations in Hopkinton, Newton and Allston.

• Town Administrator Jennifer M. Callahan resigns to take a job as town manager in Oxford, Mass. Callahan was appointed in June 2016 as Millville’s first professional town administrator after town voters agreed to create the $70,000-a-year position. For like to sing, even if it’s just in the privacy of their cars or their showers.”

The Harmony Heritage chorus is an award-winning chapter of Harmony, Inc. that performs under the direction of Bob O’Connell, an accomplished director, performer and musician. years before that, the town had an executive secretary that assisted the Board of Selectmen.

• The town sells all nine town-owned parcels at a public auction on Oct. 30, netting a total of $836,000. Town officials say the goal of the auction is to bring in money to the town’s general fund and put the properties back into private, tax-paying hands.

• The town lays off one of its two full-time firefighters, a casualty in the town’s ongoing struggle to close a $300,000 deficit and balance the town operating budget. The firefighter/ EMT was Danny Desmarais, a full-time member of the Millville Fire Department since 2015. The department only had three full-time members – Fire Chief Ronald Landry, Firefighter/EMT Steven Furno and Desmarais. The rest of the department is made up of approximately 20 on-call firefighters.

• Armed with a FEMA grant, the Millville Fire and Rescue Department completes installation of a source capture exhaust extraction system at the fire station to help improve the breathing environment for its full-time and on call firefighters and EMS personnel.

• Town officials, residents, parents, teachers and students from the Millville Elementary School celebrate the formal dedication and grand opening of the Captain Joseph D. Vinacco Memorial Playground. The Vinacco Family was on hand for ceremony where Erin Vinacco, a member of the Blackstone-Millville Regional School Committee spoke directly to the children about her late husband , saying he was a dedicated firefighter and wonderful father who will

Harmony Heritage chorus primarily sings in the barbershop harmony style, which traces its musical roots back to the turn of the 20th century. Today, barbershop harmony singers not only celebrate the classics, but also put their own spin on contemporary songs as well. be watching over each of them whenever they come to the playground. Vinacco, who died in July 2016 after a two-year battle with cancer, was a firefighter for the Providence Fire Dept., Branch Avenue Station, Rescue 3.