Town Meeting to tackle $113 million budget, crypto ATMs and more

The Select Board approved of 25 articles for the June 2 Town Meeting, including a $113.4 million town budget, a new bylaw for snow removal and a potential ban on crypto ATMs.

Five projects that would be funded with money from the Community Preservation Act funds were approved by the Select Board to appear at Town Meeting, with more than $3.2 million set to be allocated from the Community Preservation Act if all five articles are approved.

These projects include renovations to the DCTV building, preserving Davol Field, installing exterior lighting at Crapo Field, continuing construction work at the Dartmouth Cultural Center, and establishing an Agricultural Preservation Fund.

At a Select Board meeting on Monday, May 12, Buddy Baker-Smith, a representative from the Community Preservation Committee, reviewed each project.

If approved, the funds allocated for renovations to the DCTV building would include work on masonry, roof overhangs, replacing exterior trim with composite materials and more.

While the total cost of the project is $511,394, the warrant article is in the amount of $461,394, with the remaining $50,000 coming from the DCTV enterprise fund if necessary.

“These funds are for the actual work on the building,” Baker-Smith said.

The second article would be to allocate $575,000 to fund a conservation restriction on Davol Field, which is located on Tannery Lane and is bordered by Russell Mills and the Slocums River. A conservation restriction permanently protects open space from any future residential or commercial projects.

This would be a partnership with the Buzzards Bay Coalition, which Baker-Smith said “intends to acquire the property” and create a recreational area, which could feature an outdoor installation.

Baker-Smith said the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s proposal would include removing a house built at 4 Tannery Lane — a proposition that Doug Balder, a member of the Russells Mills Historic District Commission, said is being made without community engagement.

Balder said that unless residents attended a Russells Mills Historic District Commission meeting on April 21, “nobody in Russells Mills Village [would] know that this very central residential property could become a park.”

He noted that from what he can tell residents aren’t against establishing a conservation restriction but turning what is currently a residential property into a public park.

Balder said that plans from the Buzzards Bay Coalition doesn’t mention how parking will be handled or how they would manage or maintain the property.

“Many people are concerned about the change of going from a property that has a significant historic value…. This is a very important historic property that no one has discussed ,” he said, “And mostly the residents don’t know what’s going on.”

Town Administrator Cody Haddad noted that the article that will appear at Town Meeting will only be addressing whether to appropriate funds from the Community Preservation Act to purchase a conservation restriction on the property.

He said that factors like approving to tear down the home is “beyond the scope of the town meeting article” and that whether the house is demolished is a decision for the Buzzards Bay Coalition to make.

The third article would allocate $230,000 from the Community Preservation Act to replace the field lights at Crapo Field with LED lights.

Baker-Smith said that the current light fixtures are old, “quite inefficient,” costly, and not as illuminating as LED lights.

The Dartmouth Youth Athletic Association would manage the project, which would see the installation of new lights at all five fields.

The fourth article is a request made by the Dartmouth Cultural Center to continue with its construction, renovation and restoration work. The request is for $853,300, which would cover the funds needed to fully complete the rehabilitation project.

Restoring the Cultural Center is being completed in phases, in order to limit the effect construction will have on the center’s events and operations.

Kathryn Duff, the founder and director of the architect group Studio2Sustain, said the goal is to begin construction in the next couple of months, first focusing on installing handicapped access, then starting on exterior work and eventually indoor restorations once the Cultural Center hits its slow period in December.

The final article that falls under the Community Preservation Act is allocating $1.5 million to an agricultural preservation fund. This fund would be used to help preserve Dartmouth farms and farmland.