Auburn Finance Committee backs $300,000 Swanson Road school drainage repair

AUBURN — October 22, 2025 — Auburn Finance Committee reaffirms support for $300,000 Swanson Road school drainage fix and hears regional dispatch briefing. The four-member panel voted unanimously Wednesday to confirm its recommendation for an amended special town meeting article funding a full chamber replacement beneath the Swanson Road Intermediate School front parking lot, drawing $265,553.52 from leftover Auburn Middle School building funds and $34,446.48 from capital improvement plan reserves. Fire Chief Coleman and Police Chief Mills briefed the committee on the town's planned entry into Central Mass Regional Emergency Communications, noting that Auburn's current $1.2 million standalone dispatch operation would eventually be replaced by an estimated annual assessment of roughly $360,000, with State 911 covering 100 percent of costs for the first three years. The committee also voted to recommend appropriating $250,000 from free cash to the town's OPEB trust — against an estimated liability of $63.3 million and a current trust balance of $10.8 million — and $100,000 to the stabilization fund, bringing that balance to approximately $4.8 million. Kevin W. Kennedy was re-elected chair and Michael Marshall was re-elected vice chair.