In a 5 to 4 vote on Tuesday, council turned down a $3200 funding request which would have seen about 20 new Corsi-Rosenthal indoor air filtration boxes built for the region’s non profit organizations. The $3200 would have also gone towards refurbishing about 10-15 of the existing boxes in town, which are located in church halls and other community spaces, such as the Sackville Visitor Information Centre.

Funding for the project was recommended by Renaissance Sackville, which has a $25,000 budget from the town which it uses to support a wide variety of community development projects. Each project it recommends must then be approved by town council, but it is rare for council to reject a Renaissance Sackville recommendation.

Corsi-Rosenthal boxes are “do-it-yourself air filtration units,” according to project organizer Dave Thomas. They are constructed from a standard box fan, four MERV-13 furnace filters, some cardboard, and duct tape. The boxes are a lower cost alternative to portable HEPA filters.

Councillors Bruce Phinney, Josh Goguen, Matt Estabrooks, Debbie Wiggins-Colwell and Barry Hicks voted against the motion, with Mayor Andrew Black and councillors Mike Tower, Allison Butcher and Deputy Mayor Greg Martin voting in favour.