ROXBURY – An overwhelming majority of the nearly 70 residents who turned out to a special town meeting Monday agreed to buy a former machine shop and renovate it into a town office and fire station complex.

Voters approved buying the former Northwest Precision Inc. building and 1 acres by a vote of 55-11. The building and land are about three miles south of the current town office along Roxbury Road, also known as Route 17.

Residents also agreed to use $100,000 from undesignated municipal funds to pay $75,000 for the property and $25,000 for renovations, provided all soil samples are deemed acceptable. Paying cash for the property will leave the town with about $52,000 in undesignated funds, said Selectman Tina Howard.

In addition, voters authorized selectmen to use the town’s $41,000 building and repair fund to maintain and repair the new town office complex if necessary.

The town offices and fire station have been in a town-owned building on property owned by Raymond Touchette for about 35 years. The current building needs thousands of dollars of repairs and is too small to house modern firetrucks, said Selectman Tim Gallant.

With Monday’s vote, the present town office building will revert to the landowner.

Gallant said he hopes the necessary renovations to the new municipal complex will be made by Jan. 1. The board expects some of the renovation work to be completed by volunteers.

Townspeople also approved a change in the way elected officials are chosen.

For as long as Roxbury has been a town, since 1835, selectmen, the town clerk and treasurer, school board members, Planning Board members and other elected officials have been nominated and elected from the floor of the annual town meeting.

With Monday’s vote, anyone who wants to run for elective office must take out nomination papers, collect a specified minimum number of signatures from town residents, then return them to the town office.

The need for the new way of voting was prompted by a number of phone calls from people who were confused or who didn’t know who was running for office after last March’s town meeting, said Town Clerk Delia Knapp.

The new way of electing officials will go into effect at the March 7, 2005, annual town meeting.