Town officials sit at the head of the stage as 69 Town Meeting members gather in the auditorium at Turners Falls High School on Thursday. STAFF PHOTO/JULIAN MENDOZA

Town officials sit at the head of the stage as 69 Town Meeting members gather in the auditorium at Turners Falls High School on Thursday. STAFF PHOTO/JULIAN MENDOZA

Town officials sit at the head of the stage as 69 Town Meeting members gather in the auditorium at Turners Falls High School on Thursday. STAFF PHOTO/JULIAN MENDOZA

MONTAGUE — All 17 warrant articles — including Hillcrest Elementary School flooring costs, budgeting for the design and construction of the Colle Opera House’s roof, and creation of an opioid settlement stabilization fund — passed without much debate during Thursday’s Special Town Meeting.

Sixty-nine Town Meeting members attended, according to Town Clerk Deb Bourbeau. Participation from members predominantly consisted of clarifying questions. All articles passed unanimously, with the exception of Articles 1 through 3, which were voted on collectively and received one “no” vote. The meeting was held in the Turners Falls High School auditorium starting at 6:30 p.m. and adjourned shortly after 8 p.m.

Article 13, which entailed the $56,000 stabilization fund appropriation to cover unexpected floor replacement costs at Hillcrest Elementary, sparked perhaps the evening’s most extensive discussion. The flooring project, which was “intended to remediate and abate any compromised asbestos-containing tile,” received an appropriation of $295,000 during March’s Special Town Meeting, according to background written to accompany Thursday’s meeting warrant. After commencing, the project “hit a huge snag,” as summarized at a School Committee meeting on Sept. 6. While 12,150 feet of the floor’s main traffic area was replaced over the summer, “project costs escalated when it was learned that the subfloor would have to be removed before laying down the new floor as it would not adhere to the surface left following abatement,” according to the warrant background.

“We had originally planned on taking care of all the main traffic areas … and have a pool of money aside to do carpeting in rooms where the tile might have been compromised,” recounted Heath Cummings, director of facilities and safety with the Gill-Montague Regional School District.

Cummings emphasized the necessity of the original flooring project, noting how “inch-thick chunks of flooring” were “coming up” during the abatement process. He said that since the time students arrived for the school year, the tiles have not been “compromised.” However, this assurance was not enough for some Town Meeting members.

“My common sense says to me if the floors have asbestos and they’re still being done, I don’t want my children to go there,” commented Precinct 4 Town Meeting member Linda Kuklewicz.

“Even though they’re an asbestos-containing material, they are not friable, so they’re really no threat to the children,” Cummings responded, adding that he would be comfortable sending his own children to Hillcrest Elementary when asked by Kuklewicz.

Precinct 1 member Lynn Reynolds wondered if getting tile that wouldn’t crumble, rather than overlaying carpet, would be more of a thorough solution long-term. She questioned carpeting as being “purely an encapsulation solution at a reduced cost.” Cummings responded by noting that a full abatement project would be “quite the overhaul,” requiring a summer-long tenting of the building and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“It should last us quite a long time,” Cummings said of the carpeting, despite confirming Reynolds’ labeling of the project as an “encapsulation solution.”

Other approved articles involved a $22,000 appropriation to fund the replacement of the roof at the town-owned Colle building; establishing an opioid settlement stabilization fund; appropriating money to implement collective bargaining agreements with the New England Police Benevolent Association, National Association of Government Employees, and United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America; increasing the annual salary of the treasurer/tax collector to $75,009 and increasing the annual salary of the town clerk to $78,423; and appropriating $12,000 for engineering services associated with the closure of the burn dump on Sandy Lane.

Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-772-0261, ext. 261 or jmendoza@recorder.com.

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