Board Rejects Another Fire Station Vote

The Seekonk Select Board rejected a request from Gary Sagar to hold another vote on funding for a South End Fire Station at the November Town Meeting.

A second attempt to authorize $9.5 million in funding for the project was rejected by voters at the September 15 Town Meeting.

As required by law, the article needed a two-thirds majority to pass. 216 votes were in favor, with 118 in opposition.

The project was rejected at the May town meeting by a vote of 112 – 108.

Board member Michael Healy did not support Sagar’s proposal.

“We still have the same questions from the residents that we had in June, that we had the other night,” Healy said. “We have not solved any of the questions that we need to solve. It boils down to how we are going to fund it, how it’s going to happen, are the numbers even legitimate, and everything else.”

Sagar believed the school department’s decision to hold a “listening session” on the 15^th “interfered” with Town Meeting.

“That hurt our attendance,” Sagar noted at the Board’s September 17 meeting.

Seekonk Public Schools Superintendent Rebecca Kidwell dismissed Sagar’s claims, explaining there were four community discussions scheduled on September 9, 15, and 17 at Aitken, Martin, Hurley Middle School, and Seekonk High School.

“Please note that the high school Key Club offered babysitting at each of the four sessions, which was advertised in additional communications,” Kidwell said Thursday. “I scheduled the sessions with the parent leadership and principal at each school.  The Martin PTO suggested Monday, September 15th would work for them.  I opened the Martin (Elementary) Listening Session by reminding people of the Special Town Meeting, stopped the session at 6:30pm, and encouraged those in attendance to head to the high school for the meeting and vote.”

“At the beginning of the school committee listening session meeting, Superintendent Kidwell identified that we had a hard stop to our meeting at 6:30 pm so that the school committee members and parents could attend the Town Meeting as well,” said School Committee chair Robert Gerardi. “There were many school committee members and parents who attended both meetings.” 

“The Schools recognize that we are not the only Town department with infrastructure and facility needs,” Kidwell added. “We continue to work collaboratively with the Town administration to build a budget and facilities that are best for our community as a whole.”