Voters want to understand how their money is spent. At deliberative session, Peterborough voters delved into the Economic Development Agency’s Article 12, for money to attract tourists, entrepreneurs and families. Previously, this funding increased social media engagement by 800%. After 40 minutes of deliberation, voters halved the budget. Select Board and Budget Committee members voted in favor. Article 12 will add less than 2 cents to the tax rate.
At Town Meeting May 11, voters will be asked to approve a $2 million bond for a fire/EMS complex, 100 times as much as Article 12. Its programmatic space evaluation wants 31,000 square feet.
Keene’s Central Station is 28,000 square feet, and alone responds to almost twice as many calls as Peterborough. Central station has 40 firefighters and emergency responders. Why must Peterborough’s station, with half the volume and fewer than half the responders, need more space? Square footage is a key factor in build cost. Plus, we must heat and maintain every cubic foot of that space, every year.
The Select Board liaison to the fire/EMS Department assured us, “We’ve heard you. We’ll cut costs.” He wants us to pass the $2 million bond, then trust them to right-size the project. Is the town really going to force voters to give them “noblesse oblige” to do as they please? Once $2 million is spent on shovel-ready plans, voters will be trapped. Change will be too costly.
We invested 40 minutes to cut $15,500 from Article 12. Now, let’s ask the fire/EMS project leaders to spend half a day revising the 31,000-square-foot plan to a more-reasonable size. We want a new fire and EMT complex. Please post a revised programmatic space evaluation before Town Meeting so we can vote yes.
Jeanne Dietsch
Peterborough