SOUTH DEERFIELD — Voters will have an opportunity to weigh in on the addition of a planning and economic development coordinator, capital requests for the Highway Department and South County EMS, as well as a revised accessory dwelling unit bylaw at Town Meeting Monday evening.

The meeting will be held at Frontier Regional School, 113 North Main St., at 7 p.m., as residents consider 19 articles, including a $17.48 million omnibus budget, which is 4% or approximately $680,000 higher than fiscal 2023’s budget. Driving those increases are several changes to town positions, including the addition of a full-time planning and economic development coordinator, which is included in the Select Board staff salaries budget line.

The Select Board and Town Administrator Kayce Warren have discussed the need for a position like this in recent years and as the town pursues several large capital projects, Warren said it’s the right opportunity for the town “eliminate gaps in our functional capacity.”

“This request doesn’t come out of a vacuum … I would love for the timing to be different,” Warren said. “I don’t think we can take advantage of some of the opportunities out there if we don’t turn this into a coordinated group effort and a team here at Town Hall.”

The role’s main priorities would be securing grants, developing strategic support and coordination for town government and its projects, working with land-use boards with bylaw development and interpretation and providing permitting assistance.

The position is salaried at $73,519, but only impacts the budget by $38,519 because the town budgeted $35,000 to contract somebody from outside of Deerfield for those roles last year.

Warren said these responsibilities will lead to a “modern, forward-thinking approach” for Deerfield, which will increase coordination among boards and officials, as well as increasing the chances the town receives additional grants.

Article 10 will ask residents to appropriate $325,000 for a highway truck and $142,343 for the town’s share of a South County EMS ambulance from the Capital Stabilization Fund.

Article 13 asks residents to create a Capital Stabilization Fund for Frontier, which can be funded from other sources besides town assessments, such as School Choice or Excess and Deficiency money — the school equivalent of free cash. If approved, money in this fund could be spent by the Frontier School Committee with a two-thirds vote.

Two articles will request that residents make scheduling changes to annual Town Meetings and elections, along with a set date for special Town Meetings each fall, however, the Select Board will request residents to pass over the articles.

Article 16 would move future Town Meetings to the third Saturday in May at 9 a.m. and elections to the following Tuesday, while Article 17 would establish a special Town Meeting on the fourth Saturday of October at 9 a.m. The special Town Meeting can be canceled by the Select Board 14 days prior if no business requires consideration.

While the articles will be passed over, residents are encouraged to share their thoughts in a brief discussion at Town Meeting about them.

Accessory apartments

To close out the meeting, Article 19 will have residents consider revising the town’s accessory apartment bylaws to allow accessory apartments by right, a shift from the current regulation where a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals is required to build one.

It would also allow any tenant to live in an accessory apartments, while the current bylaw only allows caregivers or people being supported by the owners of the primary residence to live there.

If approved, the revisions would allow an accessory apartment to be up to 900 square feet, if it is attached to an existing single-family dwelling. A special permit, however, will still be required for accessory apartments that require structural modifications larger than the existing footprint of the primary building or for accessory apartments that are detached from the primary structure, but still on the same lot.

At a February meeting, the Planning Board said it was working on revisions of the bylaw to address numerous difficulties facing the community.

“We’ve got a housing problem, we’ve got a child care problem, we’re an aging community and people are having a difficult time staying in their homes. You cannot find anything that’s livable for less than $300,000,” Planning Board member Denise Mason said in February. “That’s another good reason for accessory dwellings, to keep our families together.”

Planning Board member Kathy Sylvester added that other, neighboring towns that have revised their accessory dwelling bylaws have not seen a huge growth in recent years.

“We’re not talking about explosive growth by any means,” Sylvester said.

Other articles residents will consider include allocating $48,693 for tennis court replacements at Frontier and establishing an Opioid Settlement Stabilization fund, as well as general consent articles for basic town business.

The full Town Meeting warrant can be viewed here: bit.ly/3MTfa9d.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.

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