Budget passed at Annual Town Meeting
Published on May 9th, 2001
STONEHAM, MA - Town Meeting is half over, but the horse has left the Town Hall. So far the majority has gone along with all the Town officials’ recommendations.
Town Meeting voted to spend $47,439,805 to run Stoneham from July 1, 2001, to June 30, 2002.
The fiscal 2002 budget was scheduled as Article 44 on the May 7 Annual Meeting warrant, but a majority of attendees supported the motion made by Maple Street resident Nina McGrath to move the budget article up to the sixth spot. Her amendment included moving Article 21, a request to increase fire inspection fees, to the fifth spot because revenue from the inspections had to be in the coffers before folks could spend it to balance the budget.
Town Moderator Michael Rotondi used his procedural discretion when he ruled that the motion to move up the articles would need only a simple majority, not two-thirds, to pass. The motion passed 82 to 70, after contentious debate.
Rosemary Geary of Summer Street opposed the motion, fearing that people would leave the meeting after the vote. The crowd thinned as the night went on but not substantially. The Town Clerk’s Office reported a peek attendance of 216 at 10 p.m.
Kathleen Sullivan of Spring Street also opposed the motion. She thought it would be more logical to see everything on the table after voting on the articles before approving the final budget.
But the motion passed and voters passed Articles 21-5 and 44-6, as Moderator Rotondi labeled them. Articles are renumbered with original numbers and a dash followed by the current place in the warrant if the order is different.
Article 1 was the Town Election.
Article 2 was the mysterious request to choose “other town officers.” No one asked who. The meeting voted approval.
Article 3 was the presentation of reports.
Tri-Community Bikeway Chairman Cameron Bain said that Selectmen are considering asking the MBTA to grant Stoneham an easement for land needed for a proposed bike path. Bain said that asking for an easement instead of agreeing to acquire the land for a nominal fee could constitute a rejection of the state mandated offer and allow the MBTA to sell the land to the highest bidder. The Town fears the costs of remediating possible contamination in the land.
Vice Chairman of the Elementary School Building Committee Ron Fiore said that the South School is substantially complete, Central School should be ready for students in September 2001, and plans are underway to rebuild Robin Hood and Colonial Park.
But the project is millions overbudget. Robin Hood and Colonial Park may be less lavish than South and Central; the entire schools may not be air-conditioned, for example. And the School Department anticipates coming back to Town Meeting in the fall looking for another $3 to $6 million.
Middle School Feasibility Committee member David Sheils said the Schools hope to build a new Middle School on the campus of the High School by 2004 for an estimated cost of around $30 million.
Finance Board Chairman Richard Gregorio predicts that the school projects, as they are paid off over 20 years, will increase annual property tax bills for owners of $200,000 homes by $500 to $750.
Article 4 asked citizens to approve the salaries of Stoneham officials. Last week the Finance Board agreed that there was no need to cut Selectmen salaries this year. The Finance Board plans to study the matter further, Gregorio said.
Article 5-7 eliminated the minimum special permit processing period of 35 days from the Stoneham Code and moved the additional code requirements regarding special permits from Chapter 15 of the Town Code to Chapter 17.
John DeGeorge of Franklin Street said that this move would transfer control of the special permit requirements from Town Meeting to the Planning Board because Town Meeting only votes on changes of the Town By-Law, Chapters 1-15 in the Code. Planning Board member Steve Catalano said DeGeorge was right but still urged passage.
The Town Meeting voted the necessary two-thirds majority in favor to pass the article.
Article 6-8 asked citizens to eliminate a requirement that a party notify the Building Inspector before going to the Board of Appeals. The argument was that since the Building Inspector gives the denial, he knows the party may seek an appeal. Also, the article asked to move the rules relating to appeals from Chapter 15 to 18. DeGeorge made the same comment as in the previous article.
Again, a two-thirds majority passed the article, following he Planning Board recommendation.
Articles 7-9 & 8-10 asked citizens to approve clarifications intended to make requirements for landscaping and screening around parking areas consistent throughout the zoning bylaw. As the code stands, two sections say different things, and neither clearly takes precedent over the other.
A two-thirds majority passed both articles, following the Planning Board recommendation.
Article 9-11 defined body art. The Planning Board sponsors this article and the next.
The Town Meeting went along.
Article 10-12 asked the town to add “body art” as defined in Article 9 to the Commercial 3 District of the Zoning By-law, which includes “adult uses.”
Bill Sullivan of Charles Street opposed placing body art establishments near adult establishments.
“If I take my daughter to get her ears pierced, I don’t want to walk by an adult bookstore,” Sullivan asked.
Niewenhous said medical doctors are licensed to pierce ears.
Sullivan added that people with tattoos are no less intelligent nor more dangerous than any other members of society.
Kathy Sullivan of Spring Street agreed and asked the Town Meeting to vote down the article and request the Planning Board to bring an article to the next Town Meeting placing body art establishments in the Medical District.
Other citizens including Rita Covelle of Erickson Street worried that body piercing and tattoo shops could appear all over town if not restricted.
A two-thirds majority of Town Meeting voted to place body art in with adult uses.
Article 11-13 asked to delete the requirement that the Chairman of the Board of Health sign off on occupancy permits. The Planning Board said that this was leftover from years ago. Today the Building Inspector, Electrical Inspector and Plumbing Inspector all have to sign occupancy permits under Massachusetts law. The Planning Board said that this was good enough. A two-thirds majority agreed.
Article 12-14 is sponsored by citizen Frank Walsh of Bancroft Place. His article asked to make a change in language allowing accessory uses in the Business District. The existing language allows “...customary business accessory uses without outside storage, but not including non-permanent trailers...” The article asked citizens to delete the above italicized section for the sake of clarity, leaving interpretation of the section to the Planning Board.
A two-thirds majority passed the article.
Article 13-15 sponsored by the Selectmen asks citizens to hold condominiums to the same recycling standards as owners of houses. Reducing tonnage will help the Town trim costs.
Town Meeting passed the article.
Also, a new garbage contractor is starting this year, and Edi Previdi of Elmhurst Road asked Acting Town Administrator Ron Florino to remind them to empty the public barrels along Main Street.
Article 14-16 asked citizens to approve an increase in weight and measures fees. “The increase will bring us into line with similar communities,” Florino said.
Town Meeting passed the article.
Article 15-17, sponsored by DeGeorge, asked to remove language about removing members of appointed boards for cause from the section of the Town Code dealing with Selectmen.
Selectman Mary Pecoraro offered an amendment from the Board asking to place the language in the section of Town Code titled “Committees.”
DeGeorge said this was still inappropriate, arguing that the proper place for the language is in the Town Administrator Act under the duties and responsibilities of various boards.
Town Meeting passed the article as amended by the Selectmen.
Articles 16-18 and 17-19 were indefinitely postponed. De-George, the sponsor, agreed with Town officials that more time was needed to make sure the changes were made in the most effective and legally binding manner.
The next three articles were sponsored by the Fire Department, and Town Meeting passed all three.
Article 18-20 asked the citizens to approve a requirement that contractors must pay for a fire detail on all blasting sites.
Article 19-21 asked that all new buildings have exterior boxes, which can only be opened by the Fire Department, containing keys to the buildings.
Article 20-22 asked that new buildings with greater than 5,000 square feet of floor space have alarm systems wired directly into the station.
The Annual Town Meeting resumes at the conclusion of the May 10 Special Town Meeting scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Auditorium. There are six articles in the Special and 22 articles left in the Annual.
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