INDUSTRY – A small crowd of voters turned out on a bright and warm Saturday to the annual town meeting and approved all requests.
When it was all said and done, the municipal budget was up by $27,289 over the current budget to total $437,683.06, for a nearly 5 percent increase.
It was road conditions that earned the most discussion as residents complained of potholes and inadequate scheduled maintenance work. In an ongoing effort to get the town’s roads all in shape, a road maintenance committee recommended three years ago to implement a five-year plan to spend $100,000 each year to fix the roads. Beginning its third year now, work has progressed and improvements have been made on the designated roads in need of most repair.
Resident Jim Bouffard noted the program is getting the job done but regular maintenance of some roads isn’t. He said Federal Row, which has a long stretch of gravel off Mosher Hill Road, didn’t get the grading it needed at the right time last year and is in rough shape now – at the start of mud season.
“I called three times to have a grader come out last year,” he said and added, “The road took hell this winter and now a lot more work will need to be done.”
Selectman Rob Geisser, who oversees the road work said, “As soon as it’s grade-able, we’ll get out there.” Voters approved $100,000 go towards road maintenance.
Also brought up on a request for $75,000 for plowing was that current road commission Chris Winters doesn’t want to do it anymore.
“We’re trying to find someone else to do it,” Geisser said. The $75,000 was approved for plowing the town’s roads.
Shaw Hill Road, which everyone seemed to agree was in need of work at the top to finish what was started at the bottom of the hill last year, received $25,000 for repaving work.
Money received from the annual fireworks display last Fourth of July will pay for a rescue response station wagon that can be used instead of sending one of the big equipment rigs to smaller incidents, said Fire Chief Joe Paradis, Jr.
For the last 18 years, Industry’s Fire Department has had volunteers to set up and launch a fireworks display. In the early years, a few hundred might show up, but now from 5,000 to 6,000 spectators attend the display held on the Wing’s pastureland. Each carload pays a few dollars which, after all expenses are paid, go to the fire department.
In years past, the department was able to purchase a “jaws of life” that can rip open a vehicle to extricate an accident victim. Other equipment, such as an thermal imaging camera has been purchased with proceeds from the fireworks.
“The town of Industry has the best show in the state,” Selectman Lee Ireland said. And it’s all run by dozens of volunteers who work to prepare the site, park thousands of cars, and clean up the next day, he said. The town’s initial investment of $3,500, is repaid several times more. Last summer’s fireworks brought in proceeds worth $13,680.99.
$3,500 was again approved this year to help pay for the fireworks.
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