ROXBURY — Voters at the annual town meeting Monday will decide whether to authorize a loan of up to $300,000 to build a sand/salt building this summer.

Action on the 73 articles will begin at 6 p.m. at the Town Hall on Route 17.

Article 31 asks that selectmen be authorized to negotiate terms of the loan, which would be paid back over seven years.

Article 32 asks voters to raise $25,000 toward the construction project and use any leftover engineering money for it.

If approved, the 58- by 96-foot building would sit where the sand/salt pile is, John Sutton, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said.

He said it would hold more than a year’s supply.

“Right now, all we have is a ramshackle thing for keeping our salt in, and the sand/salt mixture is out in the weather,” Sutton said. “We’re hoping the town will approve us doing this, and we can get the building built. It will be a vast improvement over what we have now.”

He said several years ago the state had an initiative to subsidize the cost of building sand/salt sheds.

“The previous governor said ‘we’re not going to do that anymore.’ Those funds went away,” Sutton said.

If all articles pass as written, the budget would be higher than last year.

This year’s municipal budget is up about $78,000 to $587,106, Renee Hodsdon, tax collector/treasurer, said.

Voters will also cast ballots for a tax collector/treasurer and a selectman, each for three-year terms. Hodsdon and Selectman Timothy Derouche are running for re-election.

bfarrin@sunmediagroup.net

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