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Committee presses Board of Finance, USDA timeline to repair Station 13 and restore emergency service
Summary
A town committee voted to seek Board of Finance and town-meeting approval to use already-allocated funds and pursue USDA reimbursement so Site 13 repairs and drainage work can begin; members cited equipment failures, storage loss and a reduced level of emergency service while the station is closed.
A town project committee on July 3 agreed to ask the Board of Finance and the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to release funds and to pursue USDA grant reimbursement so repairs at Station 13 can begin promptly.
Committee members said limited cash flow and equipment failures have left the station unusable and threatened local emergency response. "We should ask for some money just so we ... can react quickly to any financial needs that there are," a committee member said, arguing the group should be authorized to use money already allocated to the committee rather than repeatedly returning to meetings for approvals.
The committee heard a staff update on federal grant timing. A staff member said recent changes at USDA that took effect July 1 have narrowed some environmental review requirements and allowed USDA staff to do more approvals internally, which could speed clearance for site work. "The approval processes that were previously required... have been shrunk into a much smaller scope, and they're done internally at the USDA," the staff member reported.
Members discussed oversight and procurement. Several argued a formal "clerk of the works" position may not be required given USDA oversight and the committee's ability to provide on-site observation; they proposed a committee-based oversight role instead. On procurement, staff said cooperative purchasing options used previously (the CROG/Gordian method) may satisfy bid requirements and reduce the need to draft new RFPs.
The committee raised specific logistical issues: public-works drainage work likely fits into Troy's schedule in September; material costs and local contractor availability were unresolved; and temporary storage used by the EMS team is failing. A member warned residents near the closed firehouse are "getting a reduced level of service because that firehouse being closed," linking the repairs directly to public-safety concerns.
Committee members reviewed the funding history. A staff member recalled $200,000 originally planned for Wellington Hill had been redirected in an earlier planning year and that some of that funding remains in town accounts. The group acknowledged that certain reallocations may require town-meeting or Board of Finance action.
Next steps agreed by the committee include requesting agenda time with the Board of Finance next week, seeking to appear at the July 15 town meeting, and authorizing a committee representative to speak on the group's behalf. "I will be present to speak," a committee member said, asking others for moral support at the meeting.
The committee did not take a formal vote in the meeting transcript; members instead set procedural steps to secure funds and move site work forward. The board of finance's and USDA's responses, and whether town meeting will permit the requested reallocations, remain outstanding.
