Special Town Meeting will tackle land purchase, ARPA spending

The Select Board opened the warrant for an August 29 Special Town Meeting and opted to use the town’s right of first refusal to purchase 173 and 183 Upton Street.

The two parcels will help the town complete a ring of preservation land around Silver Lake, protecting the watershed. The Community Preservation Committee will discuss the funding Thursday night.

If passed, the land purchase would be among the warrant items for Special Town Meeting.

The Select Board also approved the ARPA Committee’s updated spending plan for the town’s American Rescue Plan Act funding: 

• Joint water project (Grafton Water District and Tufts) $500,000
• Municipal Center parking $475,000
• Grafton Food Bank $50,000 — These funds will be utilized to keep the food bank solvent into the future
• Skate Park Design $50,000 — This project will create the design, specification and bid documents for the creation of a skate park. The construction is eligible for CPC funding.
• South Grafton Community House $75,000 — Would allow for the exterior repair/renovation.
• Police and Fire Department radios $350,000 — Both departments need upgrades. The funding would take care of the emergent needs of the system while the town pursues a system-wide upgrade. These funds will augment a $100,000 earmark from the state in the current budget.
• Recreation Department plan and pickleball courts $100.000 — Create a master park/playground/plan/inventory. This builds a road map for the department to replace/modernize the amenities in Grafton parks,
• Economic Development $100,000 — Will be used to fund a la carte work from the Local Rapid Recovery Plan.
• Sidewalks $750,000 — Funds sidewalks to be built at the discretion of the DPW director.

The funding plan leaves a minimum of $194,258 left for appropriation. The ARPA Committee is working on a plan to utilize the remaining funds for a mental health program. The committee will meet in August to flesh out the needs of the proposal.

The town has already approved $3.1 million in ARPA spending:

• HVAC for Grafton Middle School — $2,500,000
• Nursing — $300,000
• Consultant — $100,000 (shared)
• Website upgrade for the town — $50,000
• MS4 Compliance — $150,000

Special Town Meeting will be held at 7 p.m. August 29 at Grafton High School.

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