Small Town Meeting follows directions of boards
Published on October 27th, 1999
STONEHAM, MA - Stoneham voters did exactly what the town asked on all 29 warrant articles of the Oct. 25 Special Town Meeting.
Citizens passed articles 1-14, 16 and 18-29 and postponed action on 15 and 17, according to the recommendations of the Board of Selectmen, Finance and Advisory Board and Planning Board.
Debate was limited, as was attendance — 151. And the meeting was dissolved at 10:30p.m., by which time approximately $2.5 million was appropriated.
Article 1, a request for $330,000 for prior year town employee medical bills, passed unanimously, as did around $915,000 in contractual adjustments to town contracts, Article 2. Also under Article 2, two new police officers and an office worker for the board of health were added to the payroll.
Article 3, a transfer of $200,000 from the overlay to the reserve account, passed with unanimous support.
A two-thirds vote was necessary to approve Article 4, borrowing $280,000 for a new pumping engine for the fire department. The citizens again voted unanimously to fund the truck.
Article 5, a request for $150,000 to continue the town's sidewalk maintenance program also received unanimous support.
Debate began over Article 6, a request for $75,000 for "repairs and improvements to the walkways and grounds surrounding Town Hall..."
Franklin Street resident John DeGeorge thought the town should wait and see what work is done on the Town Common before spending additional money on improvements around the Town Hall.
"I am for these improvements, but I think we should see what we get with the Common first," DeGeorge said.
The voters decided to go ahead with the repairs, approving the article with a visible majority.
Article 7 asked the town to authorize use of $325,000 in available funds, $250,000 to reduce the bonding authorization for the Town Common Project from $1.25 to $1 million and $75,000 to cover cost overruns. The town voted unanimously to do so.
The town also gave unanimous support in Article 8 to spending $350,000 in cash to build a new Public Works garage instead of borrowing the money as had previously been approved by the May 1999 Town Meeting.
Unanimous passage of Article 9 moved $100,000 of surplus revenue into a fund dedicated to buying back sick leave hours from police personnel. Police officers who were hired before 1994 can take these hours into retirement and must be compensated.
Articles 10, 11 and 12 passed unanimously: $15,000 for selective traffic enforcement, $15,000 for town litigation and $20,000 for shade trees.
Article 13 asked the town to take $250,000 from the overlay account to pay for "improvements to the town's drainage system."
DeGeorge offered an amendment to the article which would require the town to complete the drainage survey of the whole town if the article passed.
Town Administrator Jeff Nutting g said the town wanted to fix problems identified before looking for more problems.
DeGeorge said the problems were related and no effective solution could be reached without addressing drainage townwide. He also argued that drainage must be fixed on Franklin Street before state funds become available to reconstruct the road. The town is on a list to receive funding for Franklin Street reconstruction.
Peter Gilligan of Oak Street also urged the town to look at problems in the Franklin Street area.
Richard Gregorio of the Finance Board said he was uncertain whether $250,000 would be enough to fix all the problems identified from a previous study and complete the study of the remainder of the town.
The town voted down DeGeorge's amendment and then approved the original article.
The town voted unanimously in Article 14 to transfer $25,000 from the surplus revenue account to the Millennium Parade Committee.
DeGeorge wanted to amend the article to specify that all the money would be used for the parade within Stoneham and that the Town Administrator would oversee the committee's actions.
Frank Geary of the Millennium Committee assured citizens the parade would stay in Stoneham, ending near Friendly's. He added that the committee answers to the selectmen.
Article 15, appropriation of funds to buy Archdiocese land off Broadway, was postponed at the request of selectmen.
During the meeting selectmen took a vote at their table to extend a town requirement that the property in question in Article 15 remain cemetery land.
The town accepted another piece of Archdiocese property behind the Senior Center on Elm Street as a gift in Article 16. The town already uses this land as soccer fields.
Article 17 asked the town to combine the Unicorn Recreation Committee and the Youth Commission. Selectmen said they wanted more time to look into the matter, requesting postponement. The voters agreed to postpone.
In Articles 18, 19 and 20 the voters agreed to accept state highway money, easements from Bear Hill and Buckingham Terrace apartments to construct a town drainage system, and several private ways as new public roads.
Article 21 asked for a sanitary sewer main for Vernon Avenue at a cost of $15,500. The voters said yes.
Voting yes on Article 22, the citizens agreed to let the town enter into a collective agreement with other area towns to buy in bulk and cut costs for municipal supplies.
Article 23 was an article sponsored by the selectmen to allow "the Moderator (to) take all votes requiring a two-thirds majority in the same manner in which the moderator conducts the taking of a vote when a majority is required..."
The article passed without debate.
In a separate interview, John DeGeorge said he wanted to amend the article. He had an idea for a compromise, which would maintain a hand count but still help keep the meeting moving, he said.
"Other people had told me they wanted to speak on this issue," DeGeorge said. "I turned around to look. No one. I turned back, and Rotondi gaveled the discussion over."
Voters approved changes in the wireless service facility bylaws in Articles 24 and 25. In Article 26 voters approved deleting municipal buildings from the Wireless Overlay District and adding Commercial Districts II and III, land on the west side of Route 93.
"These changes make our policies more objective and less susceptible to legal challenge," said Gus Niewenhous, chairman of the Planning Board.
Voters approved the Article 27 request for tighter parking restrictions with the addition of a satellite parking option for businesses in the Central Business District.
In Article 28 Mark Vaughan, representing Kraft Foods, asked for rezoning of a five-acre parcel of land abutting Route 93 behind Adam Road from residential to Commercial 1. The land will be used for a building which will generate $40,000 to $50,000 in tax revenue, according to Finance Board estimates. The people voted to make the change.
In Article 29 the voters backed a petition brought forth by Terri Ghannam of Green Street asking that School Committee meetings be televised.
Brenda Boyle of the Finance Committee and Jill Kennedy of Janice Lane both spoke emotionally in favor of televising meetings.
Support was near unanimous, but the School Committee maintains that the committee is not obligated to follow the direction of the town on this procedural matter.
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