Page 8 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2021 Another Voke Vote coming up On Jan. 25, Saugus and 11 other communities in the Northeast Metro Tech Regional School District are set to vote on whether to fund the $317.4 school project By Mark E. Vogler A number of Town Meeting members who opposed an article to fund Saugus’s share of a proposed $317.4 million back in October plan to support the measure at a Special Election set for Jan. 25 – providing they keep the promise they made during the Special Town Meeting. Members voted 37-6 in favor of a Finance Committee recommendation against approving an article which many town offi - cials worry could lead to massive cuts in the town’s operating budget over the next 30 years. A number of the members also said they prefer to allow town residents to vote on a measure that could cost the taxpayers of Saugus $40.6 million over a 30-year period instead of leaving the vote in the hands of 50 Town Meeting members. A project with that kind of price tag should be funded through a debt exclusion instead of the town’s operating budget — and by a vote of the people, a majority of the members agreed. Saugus is just one of 12 communities in the Northeast Metro Tech Regional School District that will be voting in the Special Election on Jan. 25. Voting for all 10 town precincts will take place at the Saugus Senior Center from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., instead of being held at the usual polling locations. Postcards notifying voters of the upcoming election will be mailed out next week, Law Offices of Terrence W. Kennedy 512 Broadway, Everett • Criminal Defense • Personal Injury • Medical Malpractice Tel: (617) 387-9809 Cell: (617) 308-8178 twkennedylaw@gmail.com A trusted family name combined with exceptional craftsmanship & professionalism. Call for a consultation & quote. according to Andrew DePatto, Election Coordinator at the Saugus Town Clerk’s Offi ce. “The election was planned for a school week when we can’t use our school buildings (for voting locations),”’ DePatto said in an interview this week. “It’s being held at the Senior Center because we had to consolidate all of our precincts,” DePatto said. There will be no early voting for this election. However, residents can vote absentee. The last day to register to vote is Jan. 5 at 8 p.m., and the last day to request an absentee ballot is Jan. 19, he said. The sample ballot provided by the clerk’s office this week provides for a “yes” or “no” answer to the following question: “Do you approve of the vote of the Regional District School Committee of the Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School District adopted on December 9, 2021, to authorize the borrowing of $317,422,620 to pay costs of designing, constructing, originally equipping and furnishing a new Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School and related athletic facilities, located at 100 Hemlock Road in Wakefield, Massachusetts, including the payment of all costs incidental and related thereto ….” At the outset of the October Special Town Meeting, Finance Committee Chair Kenneth DePatto stated that a major problem that his committee had with the article was that it didn’t identify a source of funding. DePatto also cautioned members that approval of the article without a debt exclusion vote of the people would mean that Saugus Public Schools, the Police Department and the Fire Department “would take a signifi cant hit.” DePatto explained that it would be best to get a debt exclusion vote before the Saugus voters. “There’s no doubt in my mind that this is a project that needs to happen,” Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree told Town Meeting Members prior to the vote. But he also suggested there would be consequences to passing the article that would authorize Saugus’s debt for VOKE VOTE | SEE PAGE 17 63 Years! • Vinyl Siding • Carpentry Work • Decks • Roofing • Replacement Windows • Free Estimates • Fully Licensed • Fully Insured
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