Russell Moderator Illtyd Fernandez-Sierra convenes the Town Meeting on July 10.
Reminder Publishing photo by Amy Porter
RUSSELL — Thirty-three registered voters attended the Annual Town Meeting on July 10, surpassing the quorum of 25 that were needed to approve the town’s fiscal year 2025 budget of $5.74 million,, an increase of approximately $300,000 over FY24.
Most articles passed unanimously, or with one or two dissenters. All of the incumbent candidates in the town election, which took place on June 3, were returned to office with no contests.
At the Town Meeting, nominations were given for the two candidates whose three-year terms on the Finance Committee ended in 2024: Ray Boissonault and Steve Delinickas, who was not present at the meeting. Both were elected unanimously for another three-year term.
Also approved with one “no” vote was the budget of $2.36 million to defray the town expenses, not including Gateway Regional School District and vocational education expenses and a transfer to stabilization. The revenue-generating budgets for the water and sewer funds and the Municipal Light Department were also approved separately.
The Finance Committee recommended approval of the Gateway school budget of $2.44 million, which was accorded unanimously with no discussion.
There was discussion, however, of Article 9, asking voters to approve raising $234,073 from the general fund and a transfer of $400,000 from free cash for Russell’s vocational school tuition and transportation, which passed with one “no” vote.
Treasurer-Collector Nancy Cortis said “a good chunk” of this year’s budget increase was due to 13 new vocational high school applicants in town, adding to the 13 who attended Smith Vocational and Westfield Technical Academy last year, two of whom have graduated.
One resident asked why the budget is going up when there are fewer kids in the schools. Another asked why students coming into the district are not charged as much as those leaving it.
Gateway Superintendent Kristen Smidy said vocational tuition is set by the state, with Smith Vocational at $20,700 and Westfield Technical Academy at $21,000. She said the sending districts of students who are accepted at Gateway as part of the School Choice program pay $5,000, a flat fee also set by the state. She also said there is a similar increase across the state in students looking for vocational education.
Smidy said Gateway has established a vision impaired program, the only one in the area, which does accept tuition students at $80,000 to $120,000 per student. She said Gateway currently has several students from out of the district attending the program.
“We are super proud to offer inclusive programming for students with vision loss, and it is a huge benefit to our community and each individual student to be included as much as possible as we do at Gateway instead of being substantially separate as many students with vision loss end up being,” she said after the meeting.
“We charge an appropriate amount for the special education services provided to these students, which is heavy in staffing and specialized supports that other districts would need to hire at least one highly qualified staff member, but likely more, in order to deliver these same services,” Smidy added.
Also passing at Town Meeting was a transfer from free cash of $250,000 to the stabilization fund.
At the end of the meeting, a member of the town’s Historical Commission said that none of the departments had written any reports on what they did and why they did it, which she said is now lost to history.
“You’ve got the dollars, but you don’t have the reasons behind them,” she said.
The town also congratulated Roger Bush, a longtime member of the Water Department, on his retirement, and thanked him for his dedicated service.
Finance Committee member Ruth Kennedy thanked everyone for attending the Memorial Day service, despite the rain canceling the planned parade, which she called “a disappointment.” She said the town still enjoyed a performance by the Gateway Show Choir, Fred Benda on the bagpipes, and an appearance by state Sen. John Velis. She said everybody is in for next year.
Moderator Illtyd Fernandez reminded everyone that Velis has office hours in Russell.
