ATHOL – At its meeting Tuesday night, the Capital Program Committee endorsed a proposal which would provide funding to purchase a new tanker truck for the Fire Department.

Fire Chief Jeff Parker reiterated to the committee that it has been at least 15 years since his department has had a tanker. At a meeting last week, he told the CPC that although surrounding communities do have tankers that assist in fighting Athol fires under a mutual aid agreement, he felt the town should have its own, to more quickly respond to fires in neighborhoods where there are no fire hydrants.

The CPC had just over $150,000 in funding which it could commit to capital purchases. The tanker, Parker said, would cost around $650,000. Town Manager Shaun Suhoski recently informed the committee that the town had an estimated $400,000 in unused borrowing authority remaining under a Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusion approved in 2023 for the purchase of a new pumper for the Fire Department. Because the town received a USDA Emergency Rural Healthcare Grant of nearly $437,000, the town still has $388,000 in borrowing capability. Those funds, with voter approval, could still be borrowed and re-purposed for the tanker.

Committee member Heather Butler made a motion that the CPC endorse using the $400,000 in bond authorization for the downpayment on the tanker, coupled with a four-year lease which would commit the town to payments of about $66,000 annually.

“I think it’s important that voters know this is not free money,” Butler said. “When the grant for the pumper came through, the town did not have to borrow that money. So therefore, that $400,000 was not added to the town’s indebtedness. To reauthorize it and put in into service does impact the tax rate.”

“I kind of want to move forward with that idea,” said committee Chair Jim Smith. “It’s either we’re going to move forward and attempt to get this package to replace a piece of equipment that, in the long run, is going to cost us more if we wait. It’s more cost-effective in my eyes if we go this route.”

The committee voted unanimously to approve Butler’s motion. At the same time, the CPC also approved Butler’s recommendation that the committee endorse depositing the $150,000 in uncommitted monies left in the capital program budget for FY26 to the stabilization fund.

The committee also voted to deposit an additional $38,000 into the stabilization fund from approved capital items in previous fiscal years which went unspent. They included about $5,000 for voting machines, just over $17,000 for a grant match, $500 for a police radio, and $15,000 for dam maintenance.

The CPC will take its entire list of recommendations for capital spending before the Selectboard and Finance and Warrant Advisory Committee at a meeting on April 1. Each of those committees will then decide whether or not to recommend the CPC’s proposed capital plan to voters at the Annual Town Meeting.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.