Wakefield Town Meeting: What’s On The Warrant, Childcare Options

WAKEFIELD, MA — Wakefield will convene for its 2022 Regular Town Meeting on Saturday to handle six articles covering a series of town governance topics.

Town Meeting is set for 9 a.m. in the auditorium of Galvin Middle School in town. All registered voters in Wakefield are eligible to participate under Wakefield’s open Town Meeting format.

The full meeting warrant is available online.

Here’s an extra primer on what to expect:

What’s On The Warrant?

Article 1 - Voters will be asked to hear and accept a report on the now-closed 2022 fiscal year budget. This is an article that regularly comes before Town Meeting as a “wrap up” of the previous fiscal year, as described by Town Administrator Stephen Maio in comments to the Town Council last month.

Article 2 - Another annual article will ask voters to approve using free cash to balance the budget for the current fiscal year. While the article is a regular step in Wakefield’s budget process, the estimated $3.3 million appropriation this year is up from last year’s figure of $2.5 million.

The increase, Maio said, is due in part to a “timing problem” related to Eversouce/National Grid work to construct a transmission line between Wakefield and Woburn. The town is anticipating between $1.5 million and $1.6 million in tax revenue from utilities following this project, Maio said. But taxes aren’t expected to kick in until the entire line is completed.

Article 3 - Article Three will be what Maio described as a “fix it” article. This article seeks to correct an error in an appropriation made at Wakefield's Annual Town Meeting earlier this year.

Article 4 - An existing tax relief program for qualified Wakefield seniors is up for renewal. Article Four at Town Meeting will seek approval to ask the State Legislature to make that renewal with some changes as described by town Assessors Office Director Victor Santaniello last month.

The current program matches state property tax credits for senior citizens who qualify at the state level and who meet a handful of other local qualifications. Santaniello said a new version of the program would aim to give the town flexibility to possibly increase its tax credit to help seniors if potential increases from the state don’t come to fruition.

The program’s taxpayer cost averaged out to roughly $26 per single family home in the 2022 fiscal year, Santaniello said. In exchange, the program helped 250 people.

The goal of this program, Santaniello said, is to shift part of the town’s tax burden off qualifying seniors to promote aging in place, among other things.

Article 5 - A “yes" vote on Article Five would begin the process of granting an easement to the Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light Department for land to build a backup energy “micro-grid” for both Wakefield Memorial High School and Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational Technical High School.

Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light has pushed for a “yes” vote on the article, sharing a video promoting the project earlier this week. The department held a longer public information meeting on the topic on Wednesday.

As Town Meeting approaches, though, plans have drawn concerns from some over anticipated tree removal at the site near the two high schools, among other topics.

Article 6 - Article Six comes via the Wakefield Planning Board. It looks to add a new town bylaw governing the process of changing street names.

Childcare

Wakefield residents looking to attend town meeting have childcare options during the meeting thanks to the Boys and Girls Club of Wakefield and Stoneham.

The club will offer free childcare on-site in the Galvin Middle School cafeteria. The opportunity is open to families with children who are fully potty trained. Guardians must remain on school grounds while their children are under Boys and Girls Club care, as noted in a town announcement this week.

Families can send their children with nut-free snacks and water bottles in bags labeled with their child’s name.