Voters will spend more than $50M
Published on April 17th, 2002
STONEHAM, MA – Stoneham citizens will vote on 27 articles, approving millions in spending at the May 6 Town Meetings.
The Annual Town Meeting warrant includes 18 articles, with the April 2 town election listed as Article 1. A Special Town Meeting to be held within the Annual includes 10 more articles.
ANNUAL TOWN MEETING
Because of the delay in state aid and intense debate over distribution of the tight town budget, final dollar values for many of the articles previewed below are still up in the air. Figures used represent the Town Administrator’s budget or Finance Board recommendations if so specified.
At the April 9 Selectmen’s meeting the Board voted to include the TA’s town budget in the Town Meeting booklet, but the Board has yet to vote on department budgets.
Article 1
The offices open in the 2002 town election were posted in the Annual Town Meeting warrant in March. The election was held April 2.
Article 2
Citizens vote to give the town government authority to hire and appoint people.
Article 3
Citizens vote whether or not to hear the reports from town committees. They always do.
Article 4
Citizens vote to set the salaries of the elected town officials for fiscal 2003.
Article 5
Citizens will vote whether or not to authorize using funds from a revolving account to pay for the operation of vending machines and the pro-shop at the Stoneham Arena. A revolving account is not zeroed at the end of each fiscal year. The account remains open to fund the continued operation of whatever is making the money going into the account.
Article 6
Article 6 is a citizen’s petition from John DeGeorge of 148 Franklin St. The article asks citizens to petition the State Legislature to eliminate the requirement in the 1981 Town Administrator Act for the TA to update the Town Code’s personnel bylaw biennially. DeGeorge presented the identical request last year but left out the wording “to petition the legislature.” In May 2001 a citizen pointed out the omission, and DeGeorge moved for indefinite postponement.
Changing the Town Code requires Town Meeting approval; the TA shouldn’t be required to update the bylaw, DeGeorge has argued, because the TA does not have the authority to do so.
Article 7
A second citizen’s petition from DeGeorge asks for the Town to delete the section on Committees from the Town Code because it is out of date and to present a new updated section before the May 2003 Town Meeting. DeGeorge indefinitely postponed a similar article last year after Selectmen said they needed more time to update the section.
The committees bylaw shouldn’t be a dynamic document that has to be updated all the time,” DeGeorge said this week. “It should just say what every new committee needs, like a mission statement, responsibilities and other boiler plate, and a list should be kept by the Town Clerk.”
Article 8
A third citizen’s petition from DeGeorge asks the Town to eliminate the requirement to have an October Special Town Meeting, leaving Selectmen the right to call a Special anytime but holding all Specials to the stricter posting requirements used previously only for the October meeting.
Under these requirements the warrant has to be open for at least 14 days and must close four weeks prior to the meeting, and the opening and closing dates of the warrant must be published in the newspaper within seven days of the opening.
DeGeorge said he wants to change the pattern of reliance on free cash to pay for budget overruns from the Annual Town Meeting.
“We should pay for the essentials like police, fire and public works with what we have and save as much free cash as possible to help with the next fiscal year’s budget,” DeGeorge said. He fears that rolling free cash spending into the budget base year after year radically escalates the town budget.
And even if the Town keeps up the same fiscal policies, DeGeorge said, sometimes the State has not certified the free cash amount by October.
Article 9
Town officials were going to ask voters to approve an appropriation to balance the department budgets from fiscal 2002, but the article will be indefinitely postponed and replaced by Article 6 of the Special Town Meeting (see below).
The Town usually incudes this article in a Special Town Meeting. Selectmen included it in the Annual because they weren’t sure if they would need a Special.
Article 10
This is the big one, the town budget. The Town will ask citizens to approve a $53,520,860 budget for fiscal 2003.
Article 11
The Town will ask citizens to approve borrowing $225,000 to repair or replace the DPW roof.
Article 12
Town will ask citizens to approve spending $300,000 for water main work.
Article 13
The Town will ask voters for the authority to participate in an MWRA program that grants zero percent, 10-year loans for local water projects. The Town can borrow up to $1,736,360.
Article 14
The Town will ask citizens for $250,000 for sewerage system work.
Article 15
The Town will ask voters for the authority to participate in an MWRA program offering 45 percent grants with 55 percent loans for local sewer projects. The Town can borrow up to $478,900.
Article 16
The Town wants citizens to accept an easement and approve spending $25,000 to install a new drainage pipe across the property at 41 Elm St. The industrial building at that site was built years ago right on top of the original drainage pipe. This pipe is too small to prevent flooding in the area. Since the Town cannot get to the old pipe, the DPW plans to install a new, larger pipe across open land.
Article 17
Selectmen have decided to let the voters make the final decision on spending $8,000 to bring a drainage pipe from the edge of DeGeorge’s property to his backyard. DeGeorge says a neighbor’s illegal fill enabled by the negligence of town officials led to a permanent flooding problem at his home.
The Town has paid to run a pipe from the new main on Franklin Street to the edge of DeGeorge’s property at a cost of $25,000. But DeGeorge wants the Town to finish the job for $8,000.
Article 18
Citizens must vote to accept new private ways: 136 feet of David Circle, 100 feet of Kenwood Drive and 1,054 feet of Mauriello Drive.
SPECIAL TOWN MEETING
Holding a Special within the Annual allows the Town to address issues, which either arose or were finalized after the Annual warrant closed, and to do so all in one night. This keeps duplication costs down and helps boost attendance.
Article 1
The Town will ask voters to restrict the use of motorized scooters, skateboards and “other similar vehicles” on public ways, sidewalks, parks and playgrounds.
Article 2
The Town will ask voters for the authority to mandate restrictions on water use in times of emergency and to fine those citizens who don’t comply.
Article 3
Stoneham Community Development Coordinator Michael Gallerani will ask voters to rezone two lots by the corner of Franklin and Stevens Streets from medical use to business use.
The lot was previously rezoned to accommodate a medical use which never materialized. A market was grandfathered on the property. The owner of the market wants to improve his property, but doing so would forfeit his grandfathered status in the medical use zone. The Town wants to return the site to its previous zoning for business use, so the market owner can upgrade his existing property.
Article 4
The Town will ask voters to authorize the Town to rent space at the Central Street Fire Station to wireless service or other communication providers. The tower would be an effective location for an antenna, for example.
Article 5
The Town will ask voters to authorize participation in an early retirement program offered by the State for municipal employees.
Article 6
The Town will ask voters to appropriate a sum to reconcile the fiscal 2002 town budget.
Town Administrator David Berry said he and Town accountant Ron Florino are working out the numbers. The figure will be presented in a handout to voters at the May 6 Town Meeting.
This is unusual, but people should remember that the fiscal 2002 state budget, ideally due July 1, 2001, wasn’t complete until December of 2001.
Article 7
The Town will ask voters to appropriate $354,000 to settle suits against the Town for land taken to clear space for the Town Common. Eminent domain law requires the government body that takes the land to pay a fair market value for the property. In the end, the courts decide what is fair.
Berry said if Town Meeting approves, the Town will use money left in an account used to settle health insurance claims when the Town acted as its own insurer. Today Stoneham subscribes to a plan.
“We knew we would owe something like this, and we had this money identified,” Berry said.
Article 8
The School Department will ask the Town for $65,000 to pay for a new boiler at the East School, which the School Department rents to a special education collaborative.
Article 9
The Town will ask voters for authority to spend $129,418.62 given to Stoneham by the State for local road work.
Article 10
The Auxiliary Police will ask the Town for $19,000 for uniforms and related accessories.
To be a part of these decisions come to Town Hall at 7:30 p.m. on May 6. And remember, you must be a registered voter.
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