Town Meeting members in Danvers and Swampscott chose the responsible path this week, approving major upgrades to their school and public-safety facilities respectively.
The decision was by no means an easy one. Danvers recently renovated the Holten Richmond building, which now houses its middle school, and is in the midst of a major rehabilitation of its historic town hall. Swampscott recently opened a new building that houses its high school and senior center. And both are members of the North Shore Regional Technical High School District, which is seeking to build a new facility on the Essex Aggie campus in Danvers.
But even in tough times like the ones we are experiencing now, municipalities have an obligation to provide adequate facilities for the education of their children and the protection of the community.
The vote to build a new, $6.5 million police station in Swampscott, replacing the one that opened in 1938, will require approval by all voters in a townwide referendum, which will probably be scheduled for Jan. 19 — the date of the special U.S. Senate election.
Although residents will be asked to approve a debt exclusion override that would allow the property tax levy to exceed normal Proposition 21âÑ2 limits, town officials say they are confident the cost of the debt will be offset by revenue from the sale of other town-owned property, operational savings and a scheduled reduction in the bond that financed construction of the town's new sewage pumping station.
Meanwhile, the need for a new station cannot be denied. The current structure is cramped, inaccessible to the handicapped and dangerous for both those who work there and those forced to spend a night or two in its dungeonlike lockup.
The need for improvements to Danvers High School, built almost a half-century ago, has been apparent for the past decade. Now Town Manager Wayne Marquis and the Board of Selectmen, thwarted in previous efforts to override Proposition 21âÑ2 for school construction, say they can finance the $80 million project using a combination of state aid (which will pay about half the cost) and the existing revenue stream.
After some desirable but nonessential elements like renovations to the football stadium and expansion of the auditorium were trimmed from the work order, Town Meeting members voted 106-5 Monday to give the project the go-ahead.
Both these votes represented a show of faith in the towns' current managers and an expression of confidence that despite the tough fiscal times the commonwealth is currently experiencing, things will get better eventually.
