Road work funds, new truck on agenda for town meeting

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PROSPECT — Residents will vote on more than the town’s proposed budget at a town meeting next week.

Officials will also seek permission to borrow $900,000 to pay for road improvements and authorization to buy a new truck for public works through a lease agreement for nearly $208,000 at the May 2 town meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. at the Prospect Community Center on Center Street.

Officials plan to mill, pave, replace catch basins and do some drainage work on 14 roads, including Bronson Road, Pinecrest Drive, Plank Road, Center Street and Old Schoolhouse Road, with the $900,000.

The new truck officials want to buy is a full-sized truck with a sander and a stainless steel dump body designed to be resistant to rusting from the salt used on roads during snowstorms. Officials want to buy the truck with lease payments over five years. The nearly $208,000 is the principal cost and doesn’t include interest.

Mayor Robert Chatfield said the truck will replace a 29-year-old truck public works uses now.

The proposed 2019-20 municipal budget is roughly $9.1 million, which increases town spending by $483,355 over this fiscal year’s budget. The town’s budget doesn’t include education spending for Region 16, which oversees public schools in Beacon Falls and Prospect.

The three items will be voted on by paper ballot. All three will appear on the same ballot, but they will be voted on separately.