Chickens, DPW Building on Town Meeting Warrant

Town Meeting voters will make decisions on a variety of issues tonight, including raising chickens, allowing animals on the Common and creating a board to determine the future of a s building.

The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. at . With a new building scheduled to open this fall, this is scheduled to be the last Town Meeting at the current Grafton High School auditorium.

Prior to the Town Meeting, a special Town Meeting will be held at 7 p.m.

Special Town Meeting voters will decide on 16 articles, including a request to add $110,000 to the $179,000 approved at a previous Town Meeting to make  upgrades to the library to make it more accessible to those with disabilities.

At the Town Meeting, voters will be asked to approve a FY13 budget of $45,208,352.

This figure is 5.85 percent higher than the current budget.

Last year’s Town Meeting approved a budget that increased 4.5 percent from the previous budget.

Other notable topics on the warrant include:

A request to form a building committee to look at the future of the DPW building. The current building is substandard, according to an engineering report.

A bylaw change that would allow residents in certain zoning areas to keep chickens in their backyards without needing a permit.

Another bylaw change that would

The Town Meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. If the meeting should require another night for completion, it will continue to Wednesday, May 16.