NEWPORT — Voters will have the opportunity to debate and amend the Newport Town Meeting warrant at Tuesday’s deliberative session beginning at 6 p.m. in the Newport High School gymnasium, ahead of voting on May 10.
The warrant includes a $7 million appropriation for construction of a new community center on Meadow Road; a $10.2 million town budget; and a new four-year union contract for the Newport police.
The town proposes to bond $4 million for the new community center with the other $3 million being raised through donations, grants and other sources. Newport Finance Director Paul Brown said about $2.7 million has been raised to date.
In 2019, voters defeated a $6.5 million expenditure for the new community center and town officials decided not to bring another bond vote forward during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. The increase to $7 million is due to higher construction costs. The first-year debt repayment would not occur until 2024 and would raise taxes by 72 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, with decreases each year after that.
If approved by voters on Town Meeting Day in May, the new center would have a 9,000-square-foot gym with seating for 500 and several multipurpose rooms. The center would be available for a range of sports and activities including dancing, movies, a walking club, birthday parties, club meetings and lectures, as well as basketball, pickleball, wrestling and indoor soccer.
The bond also would pay for demolition of the current recreation building on Belknap Avenue, which was built as an armory in 1939, and construction of a three-bay garage that will be used by the ambulance department.
Also on the warrant are a $10.2 million budget and a four-year collective bargaining agreement with the Newport Police Department. The budget is $786,000 less than this year, about a 7%. drop. Most of the decrease is in capital outlay, which is down $869,000 following the Sand Hill Bridge project.
Seven articles seek money for capital reserve funds or nonprofits including Sullivan County Transportation and West Central Behavioral Health. The fire department has placed an $85,000 appropriation on the warrant by petition. The money, according to the article’s wording, would allow for two career firefighters per shift and “would allow the department to increase day-to-day staffing without having to hire new personnel.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com
