SPECIAL TOWN MEETING

TOWN OF HINSDALE NOTICE OF SPECIAL TOWN MEETING

To the inhabitants of Hinsdale, NH qualified to vote upon Town affairs:

You are hereby notified to meet in the Town Hall, 11 Main Street (upstairs auditorium), Hinsdale, New Hampshire on Sunday, September 15, 2024 at 1:30 pm for the Special Town Meeting. For the purpose of hearing an explanation of the Special Meeting Warrant and to carry on any discussion or debate with respect thereto, with said warrant articles open to amendments.

SP Article 1: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate $399,000.00 (three hundred ninety-nine thousand dollars) for the purpose of purchasing the property at 59 Plain Road in Hinsdale for the purpose of utilizing this property to construct the Town’s proposed new Fire Department facility, such sum of $230,000 (two hundred thirty thousand dollars) to come from the Fire Station Building Expendable Trust and $169,000 (one hundred sixty-nine dollars)from the Unassigned Fund Balance.

Click here for preliminary construction estimates from the fire department building committee.

Click here for more information on some of the issues the department is facing in its current location.

There was a Motion made to postpone the vote until March 2025, Town Meeting.

100 Yes

161 No

Motion failed

Vote on Article one of the Special Town Meeting. 9/15/2024

155 Yes

78 No

The Article Passed.

KEY POINTS & INFORMATION

PROPOSED NEW FIRE STATION LOCATION

59 PLAIN RD, HINSDALE, NH 03451

KEY POINTS & INFORMATION

The Hinsdale Fire Station's Current Condition/Issues

· The Fire Station is cracking due to the settlement into the Ashuelot River.

· The Fire Station has three floors and is NOT ADA compliant.

· The cost to rehab the Fire Station outweighs the cost to purchase a parcel and remodel it into a new Fire Station.

· In 2009, the Town spent $30,000 on a feasibility study. Unfortunately, those proposals were turned away at the time.

· Recently the Fire Department Building Committee hired a firm to produce a new study. Every architect firm hired has come to the same conclusion: the current building isn’t feasible.

· Lack of productive space because of the layout of the Fire Station.

· No quality grounds for expansion.

· Not centralized within the Town.

· The feasibility study considers the intersection of Plain Rd. and Rt 119. It’s agreed that work would need to be done to make it safer and more appropriate for fire apparatus.

· Response time may be improved due to station location.

· Money to be raised will come from the Fire Department Building Fund and the Unretained Fund Balance.

Attention all residents! There will be an open house walkthrough of the fire station for you to see firsthand the issues that have been mentioned. Don't miss it!

Dates: Saturday, August 24th, from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and Wednesday, September 4th, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

HOLT GRANT INFO: We receive many questions about the HOLT grant. The most common question is: "Why can't we use the money that was given to the town?" The reason is that the money was placed in a charitable fund. The town, school, or committees can apply for the grant annually. Each entity can apply for up to $30,000 per application.