SOUTH DEERFIELD — With supporters describing it as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity, voters at Monday’s special Town Meeting approved the acquisition of the old St. James Church at 85 North Main St.

The purchase of the property for $420,000 with Community Preservation Act money — previously appropriated at April’s Town Meeting — ties into the town’s municipal campus plans, and more specifically the plan for a senior housing development.

That article garnered the most discussion at the meeting, which drew 234 residents to Frontier Regional School. All 11 articles passed, including, one of which granted Deerfield borrowing authority for up to $5 million, if needed, to pay off existing and potential future road repairs following severe summer storms. That item generated no discussion.

While the Select Board and Finance Committee had several long discussions about the borrowing over the last few weeks, residents were quick to approve the article following a brief appeal from Select Board Chairwoman Carolyn Shores Ness, who said the borrowing will pay immediate costs for repairs already done, as well as give the town flexibility to spend money in the case of further road damage.

“The reality is we do not budget a line item for climate change or storm damage that we incur during the year,” Shores Ness said. “Deerfield sustained unprecedented road and infrastructure damage after the flooding this summer … it’s cumulatively more than we’ve had in two decades, in my experience.”

Although voters approved the borrowing, it must still pass a Proposition 2½ vote at a special election, which will likely be scheduled for December.

The state Legislature may also reimburse towns around Massachusetts for storm damage and if it does, Shores Ness said they can cancel the special election and then rescind the borrowing authority at annual Town Meeting in the spring.

Church vote

As for the St. James Church property, Ad hoc Senior Housing Committee Chairwoman Lili Dwight said is a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity and their plan is to emulate the process Sunderland went through with Sanderson Place, in which the town buys the property, gives it to a nonprofit developer that develops it and then becomes a taxpayer.

Several residents questioned the town’s outreach efforts in pursuing such a major project, including the St. James Church’s main abutter, Jason Clark, who raised the same concerns at a September information session regarding the project.

“I just want to put on record here that I was not notified of this project until about three weeks ago, despite all of my best efforts over the last three months to actually get this information from everybody in this town,” Clark said. “That’s all I’m going to say.”

Finance Committee member Mark Brennan also noted the church has historical significance, as it previously belonged to a different congregation and was also in a different location before being moved to 85 North Main St.

“My concern with this article is it does not preserve the structure at all,” Brennan said. “I think it’s a very noble thing that the town is doing, but we are preserving one church (the South Deerfield Congregational Church) and potentially destroying another one of historical significance.”

Referring to Sanderson Place again, Dwight said Rural Development Inc., the nonprofit that undertook the project, took the old historic farm house at the entrance to the lot and preserved the structure, while still turning it into senior housing.

A resident in the crowd called the question and after a hand count, approximately 80% of residents approved the article.

Other articles

Other articles approved by residents include: $250,000 to replace the Police Department’s ventilation system and $92,176 to match the state’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program, both of which were appropriated through free cash; several streamlined bylaw changes presented by the Planning Board, tweaks to the town’s dog licensing fees and the acceptance of Snowberry Circle and Gray Lock Lane as public ways.

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