GILL — Voters at Special Town Meeting on Monday will be asked to approve $50,000 to help further the Gill Elementary School roof replacement, as well as vote on three articles pertaining to the Opioid Settlement Stabilization Fund.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.

Elementary school roof

The first article on the warrant asks voters to use $50,000 from the General Stabilization Fund, along with previously allocated funds, to hire an owner’s project manager and a designer to conduct a feasibility study and create a schematic design for a new roof at Gill Elementary. The article, which requires a two-thirds majority vote to pass, is unanimously supported by the Finance Committee.

The current asphalt roof was installed in 1994 and has since fallen into disrepair, with leaks and missing singles, Gill Elementary Principal Walter Huston said previously.

Since 2017, the Gill-Montague Regional School District has sought funding assistance through the Accelerated Repair Program offered by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), which provides partial reimbursement for both design and construction work for school repair projects, including new roofs. This year, the MSBA accepted Gill’s project into the program and is offering a 77.47% reimbursement rate. Gill must still appropriate 100% of the funds ahead of time, but will only be responsible for 22.53% of the total cost due to the reimbursement.

Per MSBA requirements, the town must appropriate funding to hire the owner’s project manager and designer by April 2, 2025.

The town had previously put $48,439 toward hiring an owner’s project manager and a designer to conduct a feasibility study and create a schematic design, but it is now estimated to cost between $94,000 and $97,000, based on similar projects that were funded by the Accelerated Repair Program in recent years. The cost to replace the roof is unknown at this time, but the design will determine the total project cost.

Opioid Settlement Stabilization Fund

Articles 2 through 4 deal with an Opioid Settlement Stabilization Fund that was created by a vote at Annual Town Meeting in June 2023.

Article 2 asks voters to rescind the vote from that 2023 meeting that created the Opioid Settlement Stabilization Fund to keep money that was awarded to Gill as part of the nationwide opioid settlement.

Announced in July 2021, the nationwide opioid settlement set Massachusetts up to receive more than $500 million of the $26 billion settlement that resolved investigations and litigation over pharmaceutical companies’ roles in fueling the opioid epidemic, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Instead, Gill’s Article 2 seeks to have future funds be placed into an Opioid Settlement Special Revenue Fund that would allow the town greater leeway to use the money compared to the previously established account.

To use money in the Opioid Settlement Stabilization Fund, the town would have to convene a Town Meeting to approve a transfer. In December 2023, the state Department of Revenue advised the funds meet the criteria to be recorded as general fund revenue, meaning that a special revenue fund in lieu of a stabilization fund could be created. Using money from an Opioid Settlement Special Revenue Fund would not require a Town Meeting vote. However, the money still must be used for the designated purposes that were outlined in the settlement agreements.

Article 3 expands upon Article 2, asking voters to approve moving $3,455 from the Opioid Settlement Stabilization Fund into the new special revenue fund.

If Articles 2 and 3 pass, then Article 4 will be passed over. If Article 2 and 3 are defeated, however, then Article 4 would ask voters to approve appropriating $786 from the Opioid Settlement Stabilization Fund to fund Gill’s contribution to regional opioid use prevention efforts for fiscal years 2025 and 2026.

To view the Special Town Meeting warrant, visit gillmass.org/d/42332/Special-Town-Meeting.

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