Hadley to vote on roof, backhoe

HADLEY — Residents will decide whether the town will generate an additional $205,000 in taxes to pay for a new roof on the Public Safety Complex and purchase a backhoe for the Department of Public Works at a special election Thursday.

The ballot will ask voters to approve a Proposition 2 ½ override vote for the two projects. Polls will be from noon to 8 p.m. at Hopkins Academy, according to town clerk Jessica Spanknebel. 

The backhoe will cost single-family households an estimated $11.40 in taxes over the course of five years, according to an email from Town Administrator David G. Nixon. 

The roof, which would benefit the Police and Fire Departments, will cost each single-family household an estimated $4.18 in taxes for the next five years, Nixon said. 

The roof project is out to bid with a due date of June 20, contingent on Thursday’s election results. 

Nixon explained supplemental funding already secured $150,000 for the project, but the funds are not enough to finish the roof. 

If residents vote to fund the backhoe, it will go to bid sometime after the 2017 fiscal year begins July 1, Nixon said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was updated from its original version to reflect the correct cost of the override. The amount to be raised is $205,000.