DUMMERSTON — After two Selectboard meetings - and 121 confirmed signatures on a petition - the West Dummerston Fire Department finally got its wish to have the townspeople vote on a proposed new Central Fire Station.
At the May 25 regular Selectboard meeting, all Board members voted in the affirmative (with the exception of the absent Joe Cook) to schedule a Special Town Meeting.
Voters will be asked if they would like to decide the request to raise funds for the Center Station by Australian ballot. The meeting or vote that will actually address the request to raise funds will take place early in August.
This decision came after a few months of sometimes heated debate about how fire department members should raise money for the project, and if taxpayers should be involved. [See “Fire Department requests Special Town Meeting to seek funding for new fire station,” The Commons #357, May 18, 2016]
Although the Board voted in favor of holding the meeting, Board Chair Zeke Goodband noted the wording is “subject to [town attorney] Bob Fisher's review, and if we have to change a warrant here or there, we do that, but the intent is to have a Special Town Meeting."
The Board voted to hold the meeting on Wednesday, June 29, at 7:30 p.m., in the basement of the Congregational Church in Dummerston Center.