Town Meeting: A Detailed Report

This year’s annual town meeting lasted nearly three and a half hours and included a few surprises. 

As townspeople were filing into the Medfield High School gymnasium, the MHS Jazz Band provided entertainment.

Town moderator Scott McDermott called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. after learning a quorum had been met. Town Clerk Carol Mayer reports that 476 voters attended Monday’s meeting.

The meeting started with a standing ovation for former selectman Ann Thompson who served on the board for 30 years and, before that, had served 10 years as a member of the Board of Library Trustees and the Warrant Committee.

The opening Pledge of Allegiance was led by Medfield Public Schools Superintendent Robert Maguire who will retire next month after 23 years in the district (the last 13 as superintendent), after which MHS student Bethany Komine sang the National Anthem.

Selectman Richard DeSorgher proposed a Resolution to be approved and sent to the City of Boston showing Medfield’s support after the Boston Marathon bombings. The Resolution was approved unanimously accompanied by a round of applause.

Articles 2 through 11 passed and Article 19 was dismissed unanimously in one motion. Those included:

Approved:

• 2. Reports of town officers
• 3. Accept cemetery perpetual care funds
• 4. Reauthorize fire alarm revolving fund
• 5. Reauthorize ambulance revolving fund
• 6. Reauthorize advanced life support fund
• 7. Reauthorize community garden fund
• 8. Reauthorize rental income revolving fund
• 9. Authorize library revolving fund
• 10. Reauthorize respite care revolving fund
• 11. Accept provisions of Section 4, Chapter 73 of the Acts of 1986; tax-exemptions

Dismissed:

• 19. Appropriate a sum of money for the purchase and installation of street lighting on Ice House Road

Articles 12 through 14 (personnel issues) were also approved unanimously and included: 

• 12. Fix salary and compensation of elected officials
• 13. Appropriate $11,838 to fund the FY12 and FY13 Fire Department union contract settlement
• 14. Amend personnel administration plan-classification of positions and pay schedule to include a 2.5 percent increase

Next began the lottery phase where the Town Moderator started drawing numbers for the next articles to be presented to town meeting.

First up was Article 29 which was unanimously approved and appropriated $125,000 to hire consultants to advise on matters relating to the former Medfield State Hospital site. Resident John Harney thanked the Medfield State Hospital Mediation Committee for their work and particularly thanked John Thompson and Bill Massaro.

“We owe them all a deep, deep debt of service,” Harney said. “It’s not an understatement to say that Mr. Massaro has put in thousands and thousands of hours on this.”

Next drawn from the lottery was No. 28 (public safety complex) which was paired with No. 27 (new town garage) because both items are related to projects and long-ranging planning by the Permanent Building Committee.

Article 27 passed overwhelmingly after a 15-minute presentation from the Permanent Building Committee and no questions from the audience. Town meeting authorized the town to borrow $9.5 million to build a new town garage if the measure was subsequently approved by voters at a special town election on April 30.

Editor’s Note: The measure went on to pass at a special town election on April 30 with a vote of 1293 to 831.

Article 28 also passed overwhelmingly (with just one naysayer) to appropriate $500,000 for the purpose of preparing design plans and/or construction documents for the construction of a public safety building and/or the renovation of the existing police/fire station building, on town-owned land at the intersection of North and Dale Streets.

Article 24 passed unanimously to amend bylaws to clarify bylaw application of prohibition on town officials being appointed as town employees.

At 8:45 p.m., things changed with the drawing of Article 23 which was presented by the Historical Commission and was seeking a six-month increase – from 12 months to 18 months -- to the town’s current demolition delay.

While the next 45 minutes included back and forth debate from both sides including builders and developers who said the increase was prohibitive to buyers as well as sellers, and historic preservation advocates, the voting itself took longer than the debate. 

The ultimate passage of Article 23 was preceded by:

• An amendment (which failed) to change the 50 year rule to “prior to 1900” 
• A too-close-to-call voice vote leading to a standing vote on a Motion to Table the issue which required a two-thirds vote but failed with a vote of 232 in favor and 212 opposed.
• Another too-close-to-call voice vote leading to a standing vote on the original motion which passed with a vote of 261 in favor and 151 opposed at 9:32 p.m.

And it didn’t get any easier after that.

At 9:33 p.m., Article 21 (to authorize the selectman to lease town-owned land on Ice House Road) was drawn from the lottery which was paired with Article 20 (to transfer the same town-owned land to the town’s Park and Recreation Commission for recreational use).

A 30-minute discussion transpired with (a) advocates for the private entity saying the a private business owner would bring in tax revenue from the many families that current have to drive to a similar establishment in Norfolk because of the town’s lack of fields, and (b) members of the Park and Recreation Commission saying the fields would be self-sustaining and would not cost the town any money to create or maintain.

A voice vote on Article 21 (to lease for private use) required a two-thirds vote but failed.  A voice vote on Article 20 (to turn over to MPR) was too close to call and resulted in a standing vote of 218 in favor and 157 opposed (or 58% of the vote) and shy of the required two-thirds required.

After 10:15 p.m., the articles -- including a $51 million operating budget -- faced little to no opposition or debate.

Article 18 to raise and appropriate $836,225 for capital budget projects passed and will fund:

• Department: Project (amount appropriated)
• Board of Selectmen: Repair gazebo ($10,000)
• Inspections: Permit software ($11,000)
• Personnel: Reclassification of Personnel Plan ($6,000)
• Library: HVAC system upgrade ($37,500)
• Fire Department: 
  • 4x4 crew cab pickup truck ($38,000)
  • Replacement of protective clothing ($30,000)
• Council on Aging: 2013 8-10 passenger van ($25,000)
• Conservation Commission: Land acquisition and maintenance ($10,000)
• School Department: 
  • Wheelock: Upgrade classroom electrical ($15,000), replace boilers ($9,950)
  • High School: Life Skills program space renovation ($30,500)
  • District-wide: Security enhancements ($38,325), Financial software upgrade ($59,164)
• Police Department:
  • Cruiser radios ($12,000)
  • Speed monitor trailer ($11,000)
  • Speed enforcement radar units ($12,000)
• Public Works
  • Highway: Ford 550 dump truck ($60,145)
  • Sewer Enterprise: Ford 150 truck ($30,300)
  • Snow and Ice: Flink sander ($22,000)
  • Snow and Ice: Bombardier sidewalk plow model SW4US ($133,000)
• TOTAL REQUESTS recommended by Warrant Committee and approved by Town Meeting: $600,884, to be funded through Tax Levy ($510,439), Sewer Enterprise Funds ($30,300) and Chapter 90 appropriation ($60,145)

Article 26, to transfer $375,000 from the FY13 County Retirement budget and appropriate funds from other sources to the Unfunded Retiree Health Insurance Stabilization Fund, passed unanimously. Prior to this vote, the town's current balance in the fund was $302,571 while the actuarial unfunded liability was nearly $40 million.

Article 22, to amend the zoning bylaw to regulate medical marijuana clinics to the town's Industrial-Extensive zone, passed unanimously. 

Article 31, to establish a Veterans Volunteer Work Tax Abatement program, passed unanimously. 

Article 17, the town's proposed FY14 operating budget of $51,221,102, passed unanimously. 

Article 25, to appropriate sewer betterments paid-in-advance ($197,434.87) to Sewer Stabilization Fund, passed unanimously.

Article 15, payment of prior year bill for Police Department, emergency room service for work-related injury (bill arrived late from Newton-Wellesley Hospital), passed unanimously. 

Article 30 was drawn at 10:38 p.m. and sought to set aside $5,000 "for preservation of the Lord's sign."

Selectman Richard DeSorgher (also the Town Historian) said the neon sign at Lord's Department Store (which closed in February) has been part of the town's character for nearly 60 years, and likened it to the CITGO sign in Boston's Kenmore Square. He said keeping the sign in Medfield's downtown will help the town avoid the "sameness" (of national chains) that is creeping into the community. 

The town would accept the gift of the sign and be responsible for the maintenance and likely relocation on the building of the sign. DeSorgher noted that the town has a similar arrangement with the town clock atop the First Parish Unitarian Church. 

Town Moderator McDermott asked for a hand vote after a voice vote was too close to call, and the article passed. 

Article 16, to appropriate $50,000 to the FY13 Reserve Fund, passed unanimously.

Before the last article was presented to town meeting, McDermott extended many "thank you"s to those who contributed to the success of the 2013 Annual Town Meeting, and reminded residents to vote in the Special Town Election on Tuesday regarding the $9.5 million town garage override. 

Article 32, to appropriate $500,000 from free cash to reduce the town's tax rate for FY14, was the last article and passed unanimously.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:52 p.m.