Fall Special Town Meeting Articles
October 23, 2007
Tonight’s Bridgewater Board of Selectmen meeting was presided over once again by Vice-Chair Mark Oliari; contrary to prior rumors, Herb Lemon did not attend. Before getting to the Town Meeting Articles, a discussion took place about how to best move forward with future Town Meetings – location, date, tables and chairs. In what must now be considered a comical exercise, Mark Oliari proposed that the B-R Schools and the Town consider jointly purchasing chairs to better accommodate crowds. (This is comical once you discover the last Article - #26 concerning deregionalizaingthe B-R School System. Should the chairs be purchased before or after the divorce?)
The Selectmen ultimately settled on Tuesday November 13th at 7:30pm in the Auditorium. When I, as School Committee Vice-Chair and Building Committee Vice-Chair requested to be heard on the location, Mark Oliari ruled me out of order. What I was going to tell them was that the Town’s own Building Inspector has raised some concerns about some stairs in the Auditorium; thus a different location would be advisable. I even went so far as to have Supt. Guasconi also tell (via a cell phone call) the Executive Secretary to the Selectmen the same concern; and privately told Selectman Gallagher during one of the recesses during the meeting. One thing that I have learned, the Selectmen like to say a good game about involving the public, but truly show disdain for the public.
Onto the Articles of the Warrant. The following lists the Articles in the order presented tonight. Some are not going forward, so the list will be renumbered. SK=Stan Kravitz, MO=Mark Oliari, CF=Chris Flynn, DG=Dennis Gallagher. All moved forward and were supported unanimously by Selectmen, except where noted. {My notes are in braces}
1) Waterford Village, 40R Smart Growth Overlay. MO said this will result in initial payment from State of $600k.
2) East Gateway Business District.
3) Town Bylaws, 9.8 Site Plan Approval & 9.89 Design Review. [submitted MPIC = Master Plan Implementation Comm.]
4) Town Bylaws for Planned Development District 9.68. [submitted MPIC]
5) Town Bylaws 7.64 that no internally illuminated signs in a couple of districts [submitted MPIC]
6) Town Bylaws 6.3 & 9.631 near the Nip. [submitted by property owner]. SK stated Planning Board voted against. Selectmen voted not to support 3-0, with DG abstaining.
7) Modify zoning maps to accommodate any previous zoning changes
8) Town Government Study Committee. [submitted by citizen’s petition] Proposal calls for committee to be made up by one Selectmen, one Advisory Board member, Municipal Administrator or designee and three citizens to be chosen by Town Moderator. CF thought College and Prison should have a voice. {What about schools?} SK thought good idea to study, but didn’t like that Moderator can choose three people. Because it is a Citizens Petition, it must go on the Warrant. DF & DG support, MO & SK abstained. Incidentally, one of the petitioners asked to be heard by the Selectmen, and MO threatened to have him removed from the Meeting if he did not remain quiet. {Nice how the Chair can selectively decide who to hear from; especially since he let others speak at various times. Guess it comes down to if he likes you or not!}
9) Mutual Aid Agreement. {submitted Board of Health]
10) $23,610 Conservation Fees Reserved transfer to salaries & expenses. [submitted Conservation Commission]
11) Lease to American Tower Asset, portions of Map 35 parcels 32-33, 3/1/08-1/31/09 and three 3-year term renewals. {Mass General Laws state cannot enter into agreements over 10 years; hence this for 9 years 11 months.} This area is at the Water Tower at Great Hill, covering about 3000 sq. ft. Lease to be $2000/month plus additional $300/month for each tenant. The current lease is about $1300/month.
12) Create Ambulance Enterprise Fund. [submitted Fire Chief] Withdrawn by Fire Chief.
13) Seek account, similar to Police, for Fire Dept. to retain permit and fee revenues. [submitted Fire Chief] CF in favor, other three opposed.
14) $800k Water Receipts Reserve for repair & maintenance Sprague Hill Water Tower [submitted Water & Sewer Commission] No change in fee structure; built into current rates. Funded by Enterprise Account.
15) Common Sewers cost deferral for those 65+. [submitted Water & Sewer Commissioner] Need to be done to accept State laws allowing for abatements, liens, etc…, for elderly residents.
16) Same as previous, just another passage from Mass General Laws
17) Same as previous, just another passage from Mass General Laws
18) Change to Community Preservation Act. [submitted Community Preservation Commission] Remove one member from Capital Planning, replace with one member from Open Space.
19) McElwain School Building. [SK requested this Article] To allow the Selectmen to enter into an agreement longer than 10 years for use of the building. Town Consel corrected the wording to say that it should be NOT longer than 10 years. Ultimately, SK withdrew.
20) Increase revenue cutoffs for tax deferrals from $20k to $40k for those 65+. [submitted Board of Assessors] {Missing from this was any discussion about what this will cost – lost revenue to Town. Noble idea, but it does come with a cost.}
21) Change interest charged on deferrals from 8% to 4%. [submitted Board of Assessors] {Again, no cost information provided.}
22) Amend Article 3 (of Bylaws) to change composition of Advisory Board. [SK requested this Article] Have current member terms all expire 12/31/2007 and new Board created. Appointment as follows: one by Moderator, three by Selectmen, two by Bridgewater members of B-R, one by Fire, one by Police, one by vote of (Bldg Inspector, Health Agent, Highway Supt., Rec. Comm., Conservation Agent, Coord. Elder Affairs) for a total of nine. CF believes this is drastically wrong. DG believes Advisory Board does a great job and perhaps better addressed by Town Study Committee previously discussed. SK withdraws Article.
23) Pay $948 as past Social Security penalty for an employee. [submitted Board of Health]
24) Official English Ordinance [submitted by citizen] withdrawn
25) Illegal Immigration Deterrent Act Ordinance [submitted by citizen] withdrawn
26) Deregionalize Bridgewater-Raynham for grades Pre-K thru 8 effective 7/1/2009. [SK requested this Article] DG said studies in the past; should not go before Town Meeting right now; believe need time to understand issues. CF stated how he discussed this with MO for four hours, and he is supporting to give people right to decide; current situation for interaction of School Comm and Selectmen is not working. {You think so Chris… like how I cannot address the Selectmen, but you speak to us last month for over an hour?} MO said how he and Raynham Selectmen McKinnon back in 1993-94 recognized that there was no educational benefit to regionalizing, only money. Costs do not matter; if it costs more, so be it for the sake of education. MO continued with in 1988 there were class sizes of 35 and most electives (like gym) were gone. {So, what is not better now?} Selectmen voted 3-1 (DG opposed) to put Article on Warrant, and 3-1 (DG opposed) in support of Article.
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