Please Support Local Advertisers
IPSWICH — Get your calendars out, Ipswich voters, because you have a busy fall ahead.
The Select Board has officially scheduled a Special Town Meeting for Tuesday, Sept. 8, followed by a ballot vote on Tuesday, Sept. 22, to revote on additional funding for the public safety facility project.
For the borrowing request to be approved, it must achieve two-thirds majority support at Special Town Meeting and a simple majority at the polls.
Though a majority of voters approved additional funding for the project during the previous round of voting in May, the request failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority at Annual Town Meeting by a margin of eight votes.
The decision to now hold a stand-alone Special Town Meeting and ballot vote comes despite concerns from Town Clerk Andrea Pappalimberis, who noted that her office is already preparing for a packed election season that includes the state primaries in September, the regularly scheduled Special Town Meeting in October, and the state election in November.
Pappalimberis had recommended placing the borrowing request on the October Town Meeting warrant, which would have allowed the subsequent ballot question to appear on the November state election ballot.
Board members who supported the September schedule pointed to what has been described as the rapidly rising cost of the project. According to estimates from the Public Safety Facility Committee (PSFC), construction costs are increasing by roughly $128,000 per month due to inflation.
If that estimate holds true, the borrowing request could grow to approximately $10.3 million by September — around $512,000 more than the $9.8 million request presented to voters in May.
“Let’s keep moving this [project] forward — steadily, deliberately, and in the best interests of the finances of the Town,” said PSFC member Bob Weatherall on Monday, as he urged the board to hold a stand-alone Special Town Meeting in September.
“I have a strong worry that if we don’t get this rolling this fall, it’s likely we lose it for a generation,” he added.
‘Quality of the vote’
Select Board Chair Michael Dougherty abstained from the scheduling vote, as he has consistently opposed holding a revote at all, citing the results of the previous votes and his concerns about taxpayers’ ability to afford the additional cost of the project.
Selectperson Carl Nylen, meanwhile, cast the lone vote against the September schedule, saying he has concerns the process will confuse voters and potentially call into question the results.
Both he and Dougherty indicated they would prefer to follow Pappalimberis’s guidance and include the measure on the October warrant and November state election ballot.
“I have no question about the importance of the project. I do want it to go forward. I do want it be successful,” Nylen said. “I just think that’s an awful lot for people to digest. And while I totally get the challenge of adding more costs to the project, I don’t want to do it at the cost of the quality of the vote.”
‘Time is money’
Selectperson Charles Surpitski disagreed, arguing that voters should be given “more credit” when it comes to navigating the voting process.
“I think this project has enough public interest and support … that the public is not going to be confused about it,” he said. “Let’s not put this borrowing request on a warrant with a hundred other things and be worried about getting out of there at 11 o’clock at night. Let’s give enough time for debate at a meeting where it’s a single item.”
Surpitski, Sarah Player, and Linda Alexson voted in favor of the September schedule.
“Time is money,” Surpitski said. “The need does not go away, and the [current police and fire stations] will deteriorate even further. I think we should really all be supporting this project because, very basically, it has been a priority for the Town for years.”
Player said it is the board’s “duty” to protect the safety of Ipswich residents and Town employees, a responsibility she believes officials are currently “failing” to uphold.
“This project has been our highest priority for years. The time is now,” she said. “If [our first responders] are not safe, we are not safe.”
