The town council meeting held on Jan. 15 worked towards setting up what articles would be presented on the ballot for Election Day coming in March of this year. One article that was hotly debated was Article 2: The Bond issue for Improvements to Central Fire Station. The vote will be determined by the taxpayer if they are willing to pay for the $6,400,000 for the purpose of making improvements to Central Fire Station. The new renovated Central Fire Station (if approved) will be roughly three times the size of the current fire stations in town. Vice-Chairman John Farrell expressed his concern that number may be too high and that might be an issue. The town council ultimately gave their recommendation to vote “YES” on this topic by a vote of 4-0.
The council also recommended voting “YES” on Article 3: Town-Wide Communication Systems Upgrade. On this article, the town will vote to raise $2,300,000 for the purpose of upgrading the town-wide communications system. Overwhelmingly, the town council voted “YES” to vote for the articles presented (2-24).
The only recommendation to vote “NO” was on Article 22: The Non-Lapsing Special Article Funding Open Space. The voters will decide if they would like to raise and appropriate the sum of $2,000,000 for the purchase of land, easements, or any other transaction that meets the mission of the Londonderry Conservation Commission.
At the meeting, Articles 2-24 were discussed and presented by Town Manager Kevin Smith. All of the articles were accepted on to the ballot. Voters are encouraged to meet at the Londonderry High School Cafeteria on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 9 a.m. for the Deliberative Session of the Budget Town Meeting. At this meeting, amendments to the budget may be made before the official ballot is presented to the voters on Election Day. On Tuesday, March 13, the town of Londonderry will then be able to vote for the aforementioned articles and have a voice in whether or not they are willing to spend the money.
Election Day will be held in the high school gymnasium at 7 a.m. and the polls will close no earlier than 8 p.m. Voter turnout has been low over the past years, but the town council hopes to have a strong turnout to determine the fates of these articles and hear public opinion on how the tax money should be spent, most notably, renovating the Central Fires Station on Mammoth Rd. and the communications upgrade for the police station. Safety is of paramount importance and having the right and reliable equipment will make a significant impact on the response time of officers to a possibly dangerous situation. Whether or not the voters will approve the communications upgrade or the renovations to the fire station is still up in the air, and will ultimately be determined by the taxpayer on Tuesday, March 13.