Council moves South River Road fire station bond to deliberative session after presentation of costs, response plan

The Bedford Town Council voted to move an article authorizing long-term debt for construction of a South River Road fire substation to the town’s deliberative session, with the council recording a 6–1 recommendation in favor.

Town Manager Rick Sawyer opened the council’s presentation of the warrant article, which asks voters to “raise and appropriate the sum of $8,935,000” for construction and related site, furniture and equipment and to authorize issuance of not more than $8,235,000 in bonds or notes under the Municipal Finance Act, with $700,000 proposed from the facilities design-build capital reserve and $43,705 for bond issuance costs. Bond payments would begin about one year after issuance; staff estimated the first debt-service payment in 2026 at about $1,080,000 and said the per-thousand tax impact would be approximately $0.17 in 2026, decreasing over a roughly…