Residents Worry About Plan B For Elmwood Roof

To roof, or not to roof, that was the question Town Meeting voters faced last night. While the answer was simple (a unanimous yes vote) the discussion was not so simple.

As the article was written, it would require a two-thirds approval at Town Meeting and a simple majority approval on Dec. 3 at the special election.

This was something Ken Weismantel said worried him. Weismantel proposed an amendment that would change the funding mechanism and remove the risk a no vote at the polls.

“When you have a low-voter election, you don’t always know which way they are going to vote,” Weismantel said.

When asked for a Plan B, Scott Aghababian, speaking for the School Committee, said there wasn't one.

Weismantel’s proposal was to put the roof cost into the town’s operating budget however Selectmen argued this went against way the town has done things in the past.

“We’ve had great fiscal discipline in Hopkinton over the past few years and that has allowed us to build up this excess levy capacity,” Brian Herr said speaking as a citizen and not a Selectman.

Ultimately, Town Meeting voted down Weismantel’s amendment in favor of the original wording with 71 voters against and 44 in favor.

Discussions also focused on the possibility of other funding sources such as solar panels on the roof.

Frank D’Urso, a member of the Sustainable Green Committee, suggested the alternative could lower the cost.

Interim Superintendent Steven Hiersche said the school would look in to whatever bids were offered in the coming months.