Select Board details roughly $10 million highway garage plan ahead of Dec. 1 town meeting

The Sheffield Select Board on Nov. 17 laid out plans for a proposed highway garage project that officials say would address cramped maintenance bays and outdoor storage that have hampered town road operations for decades.

Board members said an initial greenfield new-build estimate returned in the $17 million–$20 million range, but repurposing an existing building across the road and limited new construction reduced the construction estimate to roughly $8.4 million and the total project cost (including land and purchase) to the vicinity of $10 million. The board said the project would add vehicle and equipment storage, maintenance bays with lifts and welding space, a wash bay to remove salt and chemicals, a separate office and breakroom, a salt shed, and a safer aboveground, double-walled fueling station with FOB access for internal charging.

"We've needed this for about 25 years," the board chair said, summarizing the operational strain: crews sometimes cannot open truck doors when equipment and salt are stored inside the current 1972 building, and limited bays mean routine repairs tie up critical capacity during storms. Officials said improved indoor storage and a wash bay should extend equipment life and help retain personnel.

To limit cost, the board described a mix of tactics: buying standard items (salt shed, fueling station) through a purchasing cooperative rather than a new public bid, performing some demolition and scope items in-house (saving about $50,000 in one instance), and seeking contractors with records of delivering on or under budget. Project estimates include contingencies the board described as "more than $1 million" for price and overhead uncertainty.

The board presented financing scenarios that presume either a 20- or 30-year bond. "On the high end it would probably be an annual increase of about $38 and a quarterly increase of about $77 for the average homeowner," the chair said, while noting those figures were preliminary and that the town will bond only for actual costs incurred. Board members emphasized the proposal seeks voter approval at a Dec. 1 special town meeting; if approved, the bond would fund the purchase and renovation/ construction described.

Residents asked detailed operational questions. One resident asked whether the previously considered Huan Street parcel had been purchased; the board said the town currently owns that parcel but a prior effort to sell it was tabled at town meeting amid concerns about low‑income housing. Another resident with public-works experience confirmed the proposed facility should accommodate the highway department's inventory (the board described a typical crew of about five and listed multiple trucks, a grader, excavator, loader, mower, backhoe and other attachments).

Next steps: the board posted the Dec. 1 special town meeting warrant and will present the formal bond article and supporting materials to voters at the Mount Everett High School auditorium. The board also indicated it will finalize cost and financing details before the ballot question.