2013 Stoughton Town Meeting Primer

It's that time of year again - Town Meeting season in Stoughton.

The 2013 Annual Town Meeting begins Monday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Stoughton High School Auditorium. Town Meeting Representatives will be voting on an 80-article warrant which includes the town's FY14 budget.

Schedule

In the event Town Meeting does not conclude in one session (highly unlikely), the following dates have been set aside for additional sessions:

Wednesday, May 22 (Session 2); Wednesday, May 29 (Session 3); Wednesday, June 12 (Session 4); Monday, June 17 (Session 5); Wednesday, June 19 (Session 6); Monday, June 24 (Session 7); Wednesday, June 26 (Session 8).

Thursday, June 27 has been set aside for the final day to conclude Town Meeting, which needs to be wrapped up by the close of this fiscal year (end of June). 

Town Meeting went nine sessions in 2012 and 10 in 2011.

Warrant

Click on the following link for your digital copy of the 2013 Stoughton Town Meeting Warrant:

Stoughton's 2013 Annual Town Meeting Warrant

Town Meeting Representatives

Who are the 155 men and women who serve as Town Meeting representatives? Who represents your precinct? Click on the link below for full details:

Who Are Your 2013 Stoughton Town Meeting Representatives? 

Warrant Articles of Note

• The Budget - Article #10 is the FY14 budget. The Finance Committee is recommending a roughly $76 million operating budget ($76,038,435), which is about $33,000 less than the selectmen's recommendation. The FinCom set aside $39,300,909 for the Stoughton Schools, a $1.6 million increase from FY13, but $238,603 short of what the schools requested for FY14. On the municipal side, there are a handful of positions being added for FY14 - an economic development specialist, a code enforcement officer for the Building Department and an assistant sanitarian (which will be funded through a revolving fund account) - and there are 12.7 positions proposed on the school side. A detailed breakdown of those positions are posted as a PDF in the media gallery of this article. Overall, the total FY14 budget for all departments is a 4.9% increase from the $72.5 million budgeted in FY13. 

• Fire Station Feasibility Study - Article 69 is for a feasibility study for the construction of a new fire station or a combined public safety facility for both the fire and police departments. The estimated cost of the study is $60,000. 

• Repairs to Freeman Street Fire Station - Where possible construction of a new fire station or public safety facility is still as much as 3 to 5 years away, Articles 67 and 68 call for an estimated total of $120,000 of repair work for the Freeman Street Fire Station. The station, open since 1927, has a myriad of issues, according to officials. Click here for a photo tour of the conditions of the Freeman Street Station. 

• Park Street Sewer Project Design - Article 57 is asking for up to $500,000 for the survey and design of a sewerage system serving the southern end of Park Street, from Fano Drive (just past Ash St.) to the Stoughton/Brockton line, also including the Campanelli Industrial Park off Turnpike Street. If this article passes, funding for the construction of the sewer itself would need to be secured at next year's Town Meeting. Click here for more information about this article. A similar article was rejected as the 2012 Town Meeting.

• Medical Marijuana - Medical marijuana was approved by Massachusetts voters in the November 2012 Presidential Election, and towns have been scrambling since in an effort to address its impact. Article #33 originally was slated to create an overlay district for medical marijuana treatment and dispensing facilities, but instead will seek a temporary moratorium on medical marijuana treatment centers. This will allow the town to "look closely at the issue through the planning process to address the potential impacts of medical marijuana in the Town and consider the Department of Public Health regulations regarding Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers and related uses," before taking any zoning actions, according to a memo from Town Planner Noreen O'Toole. Article #35 deals with updating codes regarding public consumption of marijuana in Stoughton. 

• Repair Work at Two Elementary Schools - Among the articles submitted by the Stoughton Schools is one seeking the replacement of the roof system at the West School (estimated cost of $830,000), and another to replace the windows at the Dawe School (estimated cost of $945,000). The funding for both articles (#49 and #50) is dependent on the school receiving a partial reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority. 

• CAPP Playground Renovation Design - Article 28, Part D asks for up to $25,000 of Community Preservation funds for a design to either replace or refurbish the CAPP Playground (built in 1989), located on Pierce Street. If this article passes, additional funding would need to be requested at a future town meeting for the actual construction of the playground.  

• Purchase of Property at 75 Lambert Ave. - Article 29 requests up to $235,000 for the purchase of the vacant property at 75 Lambert Ave, which is located next to the Council on Aging/Youth Commission Building, which could give the town more options if it chose to expand the building in the future. Possible purchase or development of the Lambert Ave. property has popped up from time to time in the news cycle over the past couple of years.