Redding To Vote on Sprinklers, Bridge June 27

Redding voters will decide next week whether to allot taxpayer money to improve the bridge on Poverty Hollow Road and to upgrade the non-code-compliant sprinkler system at town hall. The town meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, June 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the . 

Cost for the bridge reconstruction are estimated between $200,000 and $250,000, while the sprinkler system upgrade will cost around $90,000, The Redding Pilot reports.

Those numbers are not yet definite however, as bids are due in today, June 18, according to the Board of Selectmen.

The sprinkler system upgrade has been , as records are now stored in the basement of town hall. At a meeting last year, Selectman Julie Pemberton assured members of the public that while the building was not code-compliant, the sprinkler system did not pose a safety issue. 

“Fire marshals are confident the buildings are safe,” Pemberton said at the time. “There’s no public safety issue, this is a records issue.”

According to The Pilot, the Poverty Hollow bridge was deemed to be in need of repair by the state. Though federal money was available for the project, according to the town's engineer, the Planning Commission voted against using that money, as the bridge would then have to be widened. Redding would have still had to foot a portion of the bill to the tune of the same amount it'll cost anyway. Doing it this way will take less time.

Patch will post exact numbers for the two projects once they come in and will post voting results as soon as they are available next week.