Town Meeting voted to add $65,250 to staff and open the War Memorial Pool.
Shaina C. Tramazzo, of Leverett and her son Reee A. Tramazzo, 19 months, play together in the War Memorial Wading Pool in Amherst in 2006. The pool and wading pool have been closed the last two summers.AMHERST - With budgets tight, the War Memorial Pool has not been open the last two summers.
But this year Town Meeting had a different ideas. The meeting reopened the Community Services budget, which had been approved on May 2. A week later, member Julia Y. Rueschemeyer proposed increasing the $1.5 million fiscal 2012 budget by $65,250 to pay staff to open the pool. That motion passed 92 to 75.
Now the town has to find the money to do it. Both the Finance Committee and four Select Board members opposed the additional spending with member Diana B. Stein supporting it.
The pool has been closed the past two summers and opened late in 2007 after Town Meeting restored funding that had been cut from the pool as well.
The town’s second Mill River Pool at Groff Park has been open and will be open this summer.
The increased revenue for the War Memorial would pay to staff the pool but the pool needs $175,000 in repairs, said Town Manager John P. Musante.
Musante said staff will look at the pool to see what can be done and determine if it can be open without the repairs for this summer.
“We’re appreciative of Town Meetings supporting the War Memorial Pool,” he said. “We’re going to explore (whether it can open.)”
The Finance Committee could recommend the additional revenue for the operation come from free cash unless there is an equal budget cut elsewhere.
Town Meeting still has several other budgets to consider including the town’s share of the Amherst Regional School budget and the library budget among others.
The meeting has approved the elementary, public safety, conservation and development, and general government budgets, as well as $755,952 in spending funded by the Community Preservation Act fund.
But the fifth session Monday night will begin with a request for the town to enter into a long-term lease with BlueWave Capital Inc. of Boston. The vote is needed to allow the town to begin the permitting process to have BlueWave build a solar project there.
Some in the neighborhood oppose the project because they say there are health and safety issues at the landfill.
The vote merely allows the town to apply for the permits that would allow officials to determine if the site is suitable.
Town Meeting resumes at 7:30 in the Amherst Regional Middle School.