Sheffield voters approve $5.9 million plan to renovate and expand highway garage

At a special town meeting, voters approved a motion to appropriate $5.9 million to design, renovate and add facilities at the town’s highway garage at 48 Sheffield Business Park. The appropriation authorizes borrowing under Mass. Gen. Laws ch.44, §71 and allows the select board and treasurer to issue bonds or notes to finance the work.

Select Board Chair Lee Butala described the current building as a long-outdated temporary garage and said the town has considered several sites over many years. “The town garage that we're currently using was a temporary garage built more than 50 years ago,” Butala said, arguing the project will provide needed dry storage, a wash bay to reduce corrosion and a safer workspace that will help retain highway staff.

Tim Woodman, project architect with EDM Studio, walked the meeting through site plans to renovate the 2009 metal-framed building for offices, a shop with lifts and welding capability, and to add a wash bay, fleet storage building, salt shed and fueling station. “Using an existing building is always a great idea to help to drive costs down as well as to help with any of your sustainability goals,” Woodman said, noting the reuse reduced estimated costs compared with earlier new‑build estimates.

Legal counsel Mark Rich said warrant articles often state scope while the motion provides the explicit dollar amount. Town officials clarified the $5.9 million figure does include on-site equipment needed for fitting the building — for example, air compressors and vehicle lifts — and does not include land already purchased or any prior appropriations.

During public comment, resident Peter Dumont noted an environmental concern that the current shed sits over an aquifer; officials did not dispute the observation and answered procedural questions about timing. Officials said drawings will be put out to bid in the new year and the town’s goal is substantial completion by 2027 if procurement and construction proceed on schedule.

Residents asked whether townspeople have the capacity to perform maintenance in-house. Town Administrator Rhonda Lab Bombard said the facility will allow the highway crew to do more routine repairs locally — brakes, oil changes, greasing and other tasks — while larger, specialist repairs would still be contracted out.

After discussion, electronic voting opened and the motion passed 54 yes to 4 no, exceeding the two‑thirds threshold required for borrowing. The select board will oversee expenditures and the treasurer is authorized to borrow under Mass. Gen. Laws ch.44, §71; the town plans to move forward with bidding and procurement in the coming months.