REMINDER: ON MONDAY, 3 NOVEMBER 2025, STOP THE PROPOSED $33 MILLION STERLING D.P.W. ‘GARAGE MAHAL’ BOONDOGGLE BEFORE IT DELIVERS A HUGE HIT ON YOUR WALLET FOR 30 YEARS TO COME

HOW: Attend the Sterling Special Town Meeting
WHERE: Chocksett School Gymnasium, 40 Boutelle Road
WHEN: Monday, November 3, at 6:30 P”
WHY: To stop the Department of Public Works’ $33 million, 37,000 square foot truck garage/truck palace project (known as the ‘Garage Mahal’) and the HUGE, LONG-TERM property tax hike that would come with it.

Sterling D.P.W. officials want voter approval to build a monument to themselves– a $33 million ‘Garage Mahal.’ And if they get their way, Sterling homeowners will be footing the bill for the next 30 years through a borrowing bond that could raise your property taxes by roughly 11% according to Sterling Finance Committee member Mark Gauthier.

The only way to stop it is to show up and vote at the Special Town Meeting on Monday, November 3, to eliminate the preliminary design-phase request for $2.2 Million in funding. In their utter arrogance, D.P.W. officials refused to even consider building much cheaper carport/truckport structures to protect D.P.W. trucks from the weather, and also refused to consider cheaper pre-fab steel building options used commonly by municipalities and businesses, like those all along Pratt Junction and Chocksett Roads (including the MassDOT facility on Chocksett Road!). There are MANY steel building makers from which to choose design options and take bids.

THE PLAYBOOK NEVER CHANGES:

Here’s how this kind of wasteful Town of Sterling spending keeps happening:

A small group of insiders (cronies) always shows up for the Town Meeting. They know that the average taxpayer — busy with work, kids, and life — doesn’t have time for Monday night meetings. So, they vote themselves new facilities, new spending, and leave every Sterling property taxpayer holding the bag. SO, if you don’t show up and control these cronies you open your next tax bill and wonder how it got so high. There are only 8000 residents in Sterling (including children), and 22% of Sterling adults live on fixed incomes. Do Sterling D.P.W. trucks take precedence over the lives of struggling Sterling Senior Citizens? Thirty-three million dollars ($33 million) in new spending would constitute a crushing tax burden for our small-town taxpayer population across the board. NOTE: Both the Sterling Select Board and the Sterling Finance Committee are comprised of bloviating, gutless, posturing, tax-and-spend insiders/cronies too. Ignore their recommendations.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Before you skip this meeting, take a look at your property tax bill. Then picture that number going up by 11% for 30 years. Does that make your life easier or harder?

If you’re tired of endless spending and higher taxes, this is your chance to draw the line. Be there Monday night, November 3 at 6:30 PM.

Vote ‘NO’ on the ‘Garage Mahal’ appropriation/spending Warrant Article.

STAY INFORMED:

This previous posting provides additional details about the Sterling D.P.W.’s ‘Garage Mahal’ boondoggle:

ARROGANT, OUT-OF-CONTROL STERLING D.P.W. PRICKS INSIST ON THEIR PROPOSED $33 MILLION ‘GARAGE MAHAL’ BOONDOGGLE. THEY ADMIT NOT EVEN CONSIDERING  MUCH CHEAPER PRE-FAB STEEL BUILDING(S), AND THEY WANT HALF AN ACRE (20,000 SQUARE FEET) OF HEATED INDOOR SPACE FOR THEIR VERY SENSITIVE DIESEL TRUCKS

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WHAT: Sterling Special Town Meeting
WHERE: Chocksett School Gymnasium, 40 Boutelle Road
WHEN: Monday, November 3, at 6:30 PM
WHY: To defeat the Department of Public Works’ proposed $33 million ‘Garage Mahal’ boondoggle and its Proposition 2 1/2 property tax override/debt exclusion that would add significantly to your property tax bill.

J.G.