Voters at Thursday’s special town meeting were not swayed by proponents’ argument that the town must act quickly to find a new permanent home for its police department and EMS services.
Finance committee chair Jodi Szczepaniak-Locke says the plan was out of step with Lanesborough’s economic realities.
“We're a town with 2,986 people that live in our community, with 1,137 of those people being of the age of 60 years and older," she said. "So that's 38% of you that could be on a fixed income, including the percentage of 44.6% of our students in Lanesborough Elementary School qualifying for free or reduced lunch. We are not a rich community, and the long term effects of this size of the building I am extremely concerned about.”
The plan failed with 139 yes votes and 214 noes.
