MONTAGUE — The first 17 articles were approved Wednesday during the first part of Montague’s Annual Town Meeting, with the $12.75 million operating budget, school assessments and the first few capital projects passing after spirited discussion.

Though each of the 17 articles that were voted on passed, some proposals inspired discussion among the 78 Town Meeting members who convened in the auditorium at Turners Falls High School and Great Falls Middle School. Voters also challenged Article 11, a request for $59,000 for tuition and transportation for a Montague student attending Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School in Northampton, but the funding was ultimately approved.

The remaining 14 articles on the Town Meeting warrant — involving a handful of additional capital projects and authorizing the town to negotiate a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement with FirstLight Hydro Generating Co., among other topics — will be discussed on Wednesday, May 14, starting at 6:30 p.m., also in the school auditorium.

Wages, budgets and school assessments

Articles 2 through 12 related to wages for town officials, the town operating budget, the Montague Clean Water Facility, the Turners Falls Municipal Airport, the Colle Opera House building, Franklin County Technical School and Gill-Montague Regional School District assessments, and Smith Vocational tuition and transportation.

Article 4 to approve the town’s nearly $12.75 million budget for fiscal year 2026, a 2.75% increase from FY25, passed unanimously. Montague is in a financially secure place, with $1 million in excess levy capacity, and department budgets were crafted to maintain level services, Town Administrator Walter Ramsey previously explained.

When asked about the process for deciding which budget requests were and weren’t included for FY26, Finance Committee member John Hanold said there was a back-and-forth between department heads and the Selectboard to agree on a budget. This article spurred discussion on budget development transparency and Town Meeting member involvement.

“I would like to see money allocated in different ways, and I would love to be in conversation with Town Meeting members and community members to talk about where we want the bulk of our money to go,” Town Meeting member Maddox Sprengel said after inquiring about the money spent by the town on culture and recreation, $692,459, versus other budgets like public safety at $2.7 million.

Selectboard Vice Chair Matt Lord noted that involvement in this type of budget development occurs at the Selectboard level when the board reviews budget requests from department heads.

Articles 9 and 10 related to the town’s FY26 assessments to Franklin Tech of $841,660, a 0.5% increase from FY25, and Gill-Montague of $12.66 million, a 4.3% increase.

Gill-Montague’s assessment sparked questions for Superintendent Brian Beck. Town Meeting member Eileen Mariani voiced her concerns, discussing the vote of no confidence in Beck in December and salaries for school administrators while also asking about the public input involved in the budget’s creation.

“I’m deeply distressed by $12 million without much information,” Mariani said. “Where do other people get a chance to decide how that money is being spent, and what is the school climate and culture that is emerging from the Gill-Montague Regional School District?”

Beck responded, saying the budget process begins in October or November of the year prior to Annual Town Meeting, and that the school wants to work with the public, teachers and the teachers union. He also noted that the positions that were cut to support the budget, including the school resource officer and director of teaching and learning, were not instructional positions.

Selectboard Chair Richard Kuklewicz encouraged residents to attend School Committee meetings to express budget concerns.

“It’s a difficult job,” he said. “It takes time, it takes commitment, but I hope folks consider, when you want to complain, think about what you can do to ease the complaints of others.”

Capital requests

Following the budget articles, Articles 13 through 17 contained capital requests from the Montague Public Libraries, Montague Clean Water Facility, Selectboard and Department of Public Works. These articles all passed, with discussion on the DPW requests continuing until the end of the meeting.

Article 15 requested $3 million for the second phase of a sewer pipe and manhole rehabilitation project in Turners Falls and Millers Falls. Sixty percent of that funding would come from the town’s general fund and the remaining 40% would come from the Clean Water Facility Enterprise fund. The town would take on debt repayments over 30 years, according to Town Accountant Angelica DesRoches.

Discussion was largely related to the logistics of the sewer rehabilitation. The article passed unanimously.

Articles 16 and 17 involved the purchase of two dump trucks for the DPW: a 10-wheel truck that would replace a 2003 vehicle, and that required $365,000 be transferred from free cash; and a smaller dump truck that would replace a 2002 dump truck by using $325,000 from the Capital Stabilization Fund. These requests were included on the town’s five-year capital plan and were recommended by the Capital Improvements Committee.

Questions on cost and the necessity to make two large purchases in the same fiscal year led town officials to reiterate the need for the replacements, as well as the expectation that the town would only face higher costs in the future.

“I’m all for us replacing, staying on top of things — I think maintenance is important,” Town Meeting member Jason Corey said, suggesting that perhaps the request could be put off until next year. “I think we’ve spent a lot of taxpayers’ money tonight. I think two trucks that price may be a bit much.”

Despite concern from some Town Meeting members, DPW Superintendent Sam Urkiel explained that the future costs will go up to replace the trucks, and before a vote was called, Kuklewicz said, “This was a year where we could do it, and they’re going to need to be done, and they’re all vital equipment for what the DPW does. Hopefully, this will actually get them back on the track … to one thing per year.”

The article passed by majority vote and the meeting was adjourned afterward.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.