Questions mount for Town Meeting
Published on September 26th, 2007
STONEHAM, MA Should the Selectmen be stripped of their ability to impose a trash fee next year? Should Stoneham embark on a $6 million Arena expansion project to bolster revenues?
Do you believe that town owned land, specifically at the Stevens Street recycling yard, should be leased out to private parties? What should town officials be doing with free cash this year?
Those questions will all be answered by local voters this fall, as all of the measures are amongst the 16 warrant articles to be featured at this October’s Special Town Meeting.
According to Franklin Street resident John DeGeorge, he plans to continue his crusade against the $200 trash fee this year.
Specifically, DeGeorge is sponsoring a proposal to alter the town code so that all garbage and refuse costs must be paid for through property tax bills. Last year, the Franklin Street resident authored another article that also sought to strip the Selectmen of their ability to levy the rubbish charge.
Town Counsel Bill Solomon argued at the time that the Selectmen were empowered to impose the citizen charge through a separate state regulation than the one targeted.
According to DeGeorge, whose bylaw amendment would become effective in July of 2008 — meaning the current $200 fee would remain in place for this fiscal year — he understands that the loss of the $1.3 million in trash revenues will result in town-wide service reductions.
However, the Franklin Street resident contends that the fee, which was enacted two years ago just a week after voters rejected the charge in a non-binding referendum question, the $200 expense has been tapped as a way to circumvent the intent of proposition 2 and 1/2.
For the past three years, voters have similarly defeated three overrides, which sought to increase taxes above the proposition 2 and 1/2 cap.
“I’m very upset with the idea of a trash fee and have been since day one,” said DeGeorge in a phone interview this week. “It’s a basic service that’s no different than having fire and police and it should be paid for through the real-estate tax.”
The trash fee opponent is also sponsoring a warrant article that seeks to place all free cash into the stabilization account, which requires a two-thirds vote of the assembly.
According to DeGeorge, he considers the second proposal an extension of a similar article he sponsored last August. That measure, which would automatically pipe all free cash into the savings account each October, requires legislative approval.
“I’m hoping that our town officials realize that the people spoke in August and that they want this done,” said DeGeorge of the stabilization deposit.
Like DeGeorge, Selectman George Seibold will also resuscitate a previously defeated proposal for voters to consider this fall.
According to Seibold, he will again pitch a bold Arena expansion plan to Stoneham citizens. If supported, the article would empower town officials to break ground on a new sheet of ice and an indoor soccer and lacrosse complex at the recreation site.
The Selectman, who has had $20,000 worth of architectural services donated to draw-up renderings of the proposal, estimates that the project will cost around $6 million.
“This will make money for the town. I think the town’s mentality has to change, where we start building structures that bring in revenue. The last time that happened was in 1972 when we built the last rink,” Seibold argued in a recent interview.
The Selectman Chairman, who first proposed the Arena expansion shortly after being elected to office, recognizes that opponents will still battle his plans by citing the need for a feasibility study.
However, Seibold believes that the time is ripe for the town to move, especially in light of the Arena’s remarkable financial turnaround over the past two years.
“There will always be people who will argue against it. But I think it’s our job as Selectmen to come up with ideas for raising revenue for the town,” the Selectman said. “I’ve seen a lot of committees formed that take years to make a decision. I think we should strike now while the iron’s hot, now that the Arena is making money.”
Two other articles, proposed by the Selectmen, also intend to capture new revenue sources for the municipality’s cash-strapped coffers.
According to Town Administrator David Ragucci, he sees potential for private use at the Stevens Street recycling yard, as well as at a number of other town-owned locations.
To empower Ragucci with the ability to woo potential businesses to those sites, the Selectmen are seeking permission to lease out 20 percent of any town-owned parcel for a period of ten years.
Another proposal would relate specifically to 10,000 square feet of space at the Stevens Street yard.
Based upon the language of the more general measure, no residential uses would be permitted at the properties, and the business could not be deemed to be inconsistent with any present municipal function at the property.
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