by Nancy Farrell
5/8/2015

Waiting for a quorum, 85 voters and counting ...

Once a quorum was reached, debate resumed with Article 28.

ARTICLE 28.           To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds a sum of money for a pilot study of public water supply well #5; or take any action relative thereto.  (Board of Selectmen)

A town resident asked what will the study tell us that we don't already know.

Sean Reese, Director of the DPW, said that the study will tell us the type of treatment we might need . It's the first step to clean up the water in that area, he said.

Article 28 was approved.

ARTICLE 29.           To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds a sum of money for replacement of water mains on Pinecrest Road; or take any action relative thereto.  (Board of Selectmen)

Sean Reese said that the project is related to larger infrastructure issue; it is the first public works project from the newly formed Department of Public Works. He urge Town Meeting voters to approve this Article.

Approved.

ARTICLE 30.           To see if the Town will vote to provide that a portion of the revenue realized from the leasing of space on Town owned water storage facilities shall be deposited into the Water Enterprise Fund; or take any action relative thereto.  (Board of Selectmen)

Approved.

ARTICLE 31..           To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate, transfer from available funds or borrow a sum of money for the purpose of purchasing and renovating the property shown as Lots 64 and 65.1 of Block 6 on Assessors' Map 4, located at 1750 Washington Street, for use by the Park Commission, Youth and Family Services and Veterans' Services for offices and programs.  (Board of Selectmen and Park Commission)

 

Melissa Kaspern, our Parks and Recreation Director, showed a video presentation comparing the deplorable Flagg School facilities and the opportunities of the building at 1750 Washington Street. She pointed out that the renovations to the Flagg School (including community center facilities) were estimated at $8.2 million, while the purchase and modifications of the new building were estimated at $1.7 million. The need for a new space for the departments housed at Flagg became more urgent when a recent air and swab study made it necessary to vacate the Flagg building.

 

Margaret Fitzpatrick, Director of Youth and Family Services, said the Youth and Family Services department provides counseling for individuals, families and groups, works with the schools, and runs the Court Diversion program. The services require confidential space. Her department needs three offices and a conference room. The proposed building has a separate wing that would provide this confidentiality. In addition, the building is on the Rail Trail, which would allow kids to come to the office by bicycle.

John Gibner, Veteran Services, assists veterans in many areas.  Basically, he said, any question a veteran might have, we try to answer.

Melissa Kaspern talked about services offered by the Parks and Recreation Department and how the building at 1750 Washington St.would fit their needs. The department provides recreation for youth and adults and oversees parks in town. She said that the new building would provide an alternative location for summer programs when weather does not allow for outdoor activity. It would mean that they would not have to cancel the camp program on stormy days, commenting that a lot of families rely on the program for child care. The building would also give them a chance to offer new programs that they would like to run. She said that many people have asked why they aren't combining with the Senior Center. The Senior Center has said that they wanted to stay where they are. The question of a location for a community center also comes up. The Community Center Task Force worked on a plan to create a community center at the Flagg School, but the estimated cost of renovation would be $8.5 million. Using the plans for ideal building renovations for a community center at Flagg, Melissa said that about 10,000 sq. ft. is needed to house the departments recently vacated from the Flagg School building. It is not cost effective to bring that building back into use. The Andrews School was also considered, but it does not have adequate parking. The Wilde building on Summer St. was looked at, but the 85,000 sq. ft. building far exceeds their needs. Also considered, the building at 100 Central St. would cost $36,000 a year to lease and does not suit all the needs of the department. The building at 1750 Washington St. has many advantages: different wings that provide more confidentiality for Youth and Family Services, access via the Rail Trail for kids to get there by bicycle; space for storage for Town Hall files, and the provision of much needed meeting space for town boards and committees. The cost of the building $1.42 million with a total cost $1.7 million. The cost is one-fifth of what they were going to ask for.  Average annual impact to taxpayer is $68.46.

Frank Chamberlain reminded us that the Historical Commission is also housed at Flagg. He expressed disappointed that they were not included in the process. Melissa Kaspern assured him that there is room for the Historical Commission at the building.

Suzanne Nersessian made a motion to postpone the article to a date certain. She argued that we should fully understand the costs for the build out and maintenance, insurance, etc., before we take on this debt. New programs may incur more costs. The idea that the building is out of town presents a problem -- had the cost of bussing been considered. Loss of tax revenue from the property should also be considered. She pointed out that Veteran Services is shared with three other towns, asking whether cost sharing had been considered. And whether a plan to split  up these departments into existing spaces had been considered. "We need to have the actual numbers," she said.

Melissa Kaspern said that these costs had been taken into consideration. Utility bills currently paid at the Flagg School would go down due to more efficient systems in the new building. Cost sharing has been looked into and is being discussed. The cost of transportation is included in the cost of the programs; they don't run programs at a loss. She said that they are taking into account all the things involved in the purchase of a property.

John Cronin asked whether there is there any chance that CPA money could be used for the Historical Commission's use of this building. Frank Chamberlain responded that they will look into whether there is any money available. 

Ken Szajda expressed his opposition to the motion to postpone, saying that there aren't many options available and that this is a fortuitous opportunity for the town. He pointed out that the town has been funding extraordinary repairs to the Flagg School building that is still crumbling.  He said that the group working on this has done their due diligence, and that the builing at 1750 Washington St. offers the town a lot of  potential in the future.

Jay Marsden echoed Ken Szajda's comments. He said that he has been a big fan of the Flagg building, but in the end, it's just not worth it. The building at 1750 Washington St. is not a building we will be stuck with, it has a lot of potential for use in the future, he said. He urged voters to move forward. The purchase of the property will come to vote on the ballot at the Town election on May 19. He said that questions can be addressed and discussed between then and now.

Mark Schultz stressed that this building is available right now. If we are to take advantage of this, it needs to be done now. If we leave it to be voted on at Fall Town Meeting, the opportunity will no longer exist.

Michelle Zeamer brought up that moving it to the Fall Town Meeting would mean a special election for one ballot question. Town Clerk Elizabeth Greendale estimated that cost to be.$6-8000.

Ann-Marie Hanstad praised Melissa Kaspern for her excellent presentation. She said that she very much appreciates the due diligence and the good collaborations in this effort. She urged support of the purchase of 1750 Washington St.

Martha Deveau expressed her concern with the estimated $1.3 million cost of demolition of Flagg School.

Ken Szajda said that he has been working on how to get the Flagg School torn down, but cautioned that this is separate from the issue currently under consideration on Article 31.

Deborah (?) was concerned that we have not yet seen the total cost of this move. She also wondered why we had transferred funds to the Stabilization Fund in Article 21 without any one questioning whether funds might be needed for this purchase.

Ken Szadja explained that funds had been withdrawn from the Stabilization Fund in order to close the Town budget last October because of the State's delay in certification of State local aid.  Article 21 returns the money drawn out to the Stabilization Fund.

Pam Zicko made a motion to move the question.

The motion to postpone Article 31 failed.

Carl Damigella anticipated that the School Commitee would ask for funds to demolish the Flagg School building because of the hazard of it's proximity to Adams and Placentino; he wondered whether the demolition and purchase could be rolled into one Article. Town Moderator Kevin Clancy said that it would be out of order to add the demolition costs into Article 31..Selectman Jay Marsden said that the Andrews School building is going up for sale and that there is a possibility that money from that sale could be used.

John Varrell, referring to the Historical Commissions' potential move to 1750 Washington Street, advised that historic documents do not belong in commercial buildings. He also questioned, in an apparent misunderstanding, whether the 14,000 sq. ft. space at the building under consideration was far more than what was needed.  He added further, having just heard about the intent to sell the Andrews School, that we should not allow the building to be sold. It is an historic building.

Ken Szajda pointed out that the Andrews School is not part of this Article. Regarding document storage, the documents are currently being inadequately stored at the Flagg School. Regarding 14,000 sq. ft., he sees the potential, considering that the library of the future will have a much smaller footprint, for housing the library at 1750 Washington Street. The library building is a financial money pit and there is no parking for it. The new building presents this opportunity as well as the opportunity to house other town departments.  He reminded us that the vote under consideration was to put the question on the ballot for town election on May 19.

Frank Chamberlain responded to the document storage comment that storage at 1750 Washington Street was better than leaving the documents in the parking lot.

John Varrell suggest that we use an Iron Mountain facility to store historic documents. It is worth the money to preserve our documents.

Dan Alfred made a motion to move the question.

Article 31 passed with a vote of 143 to 7.

 

ARTICLE 32.           To see of the Town will vote to amend the Town of Holliston General By-laws by adding the following new Article XLIII:

ARTICLE XLIII

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Approved.

 

Section 1.  MEMBERSHIP.  The Town shall have an Economic Development Committee consisting of seven (7) members appointed in June by the Town Administrator, subject to the right of the Board of Selectmen to reject an appointment or appointments, by majority vote, within fifteen (15) days of notice of appointment from the Town Administrator, for a term of three years (3) each and so appointed that no more than three (3) nor less than two (2) shall expire in any one (1) year.

ARTICLE 33.           To see of the Town will vote to amend the Town of Holliston General By-laws by altering Section 1 of Article IV Finance Committee as follows (Note: Strikethrough text is proposed to be deleted. Bold, italic text is new.):

Section 1.        The Town shall have a Finance Committee, consisting of seven (7) members, elected appointed by the Moderator for a term of three (3) years each, and so elected appointed that the term of no more than three (3) nor less than two (2) shall expire in any one (1) year.; or take any action relative thereto.  (Board of Selectmen)

Finance Committee member Dan Alfred made a motion to amend to change the appointee from the Town Moderator to the Board of Selectmen. .

John Cronin said that the role of the Finance Committee can be underestimated. He supported Article 33 saying that by not appointing this committee, we are missing out on talented people who could serve well. He said, however, that the amendment is not consistent with what other communities in Massachusetts are doing.

Mark Schultz expressed strong opposition to an appointed Finance Committee. He added that the proposed amendment was a terrible idea. Right now the FinCom is accountable only to the townspeople. He urged voters to vote down this amendment, vote down this Article. Holliston deserves an independent Finance Committee, he said, adding that this is what democracy is about, this is our responsibility.

Finance Committee member Michelle Zeamer took exception to the idea that members of the current board are not qualified. Addressing the motion to amend, she explained the budget approval process between the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee. She raised the question of the loss of checks and balances between a Finance Committee appointed by the Board of Selectmen. "This is  not the way the system is supposed to work," she said.

Jay Leary explained that the idea had come up in working with the Collin Center advisers who thought it strange to have an elected FinCom. To address some of the problems created by vacancies on the FinCom: one, that the Committee is sometimes unable to reach a quorum; and the tremendous amount of work that needs to be shared among a full and active board, they had started thinking about an appointed FinCom. He supported Article 33 to change to an appointed committee, but opposed the amendment to change the appointee from Town Moderator to the Board of Selectmen.

Joan Sousa suggested a hybrid board.

Mark Schultz noted that there is no assurance that an appointed board will show up better than an elected one.

School Committee Chairman Carol Emmons said that the School Committee would not support this amendment.

Rita Bell said that she was bothered by the argument that all the other towns are doing it. She said that we should always make the option to elect government positions.

Beth Greeley asked why the current system, where we appoint people when there are vacancies, can not continue to work. She also asked why is it that these qualified people who might be appointed are not running.

Jay Leary said that running a campaign is a tremendous amount of effort. He said that he hates to lose the talent because people don't want to run.

Judy Grosjean expressed her opposition to the amendment and article. Given the conflict of interest, how would the recall process work, she asked.

Jay Leary expressed his view that recall is not done out of spite. As an example of a potential need for recall, he said that there had recently been a member of the FinCom who missed 95% of meetings.

David Aronson said that given the challenges of sitting on the FinCom, running a campaign could be seen as a kind of test. He also made a motion to move the question

Amendment to Article 33 was defeated.

Returning to the debate on the Article, Michelle Zeamer described her experience of losing an election as an incumbent to the Board of Health because the town did not like something she did. That is how the system is supposed to work. Later she accepted an appointment to a board, but then she felt she was answerable to the Board of Selectmen instead of to the people. The campaign is an important part of the process. You stand outside of Fiske's talking to people and understand who you are answerable to.

Barbara Gardner does not want to give up her right to vote ever. She said that with an elected official she feels comfortable addressing her concerns. She asked "Would an appointed official feel as beholden to me?" There are things we could be doing to get people to run. She suggested creating a B-team -- people recruited to work on a subcommittee, who could learn the process before stepping forward to run. "I hope we will not give up on an elected board," she said.

Kevin Conley said that a hybrid system is worth thinking about. The current committee has four out of six members appointed.

Article 33 was defeated.

ARTICLE 34.           To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to seek special legislation substantially as follows:

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE TOWN OF HOLLISTON TO ENACT A SENIOR PROPERTY TAX DEFERRAL PROGRAM

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:

SECTION 1.  With respect to each qualifying parcel of real property classified as Class one, residential in the town of Holliston there shall be an option for a senior tax deferral of the property tax equal to the total amount of the increase in the property tax that would otherwise be assessed without this deferral beginning with the first year of application for this deferral and continuing in each year of successful reapplication for this deferral.  The deferral shall be applied to the domicile of the taxpayer only.  For the purposes of this act, “parcel” shall be a unit of real property as defined by the assessors under the deed for the property and shall include a condominium unit.

 

Kevin Conley suggested that this Article be indefinitely postponed so that questions can be answered.

John Cronin said the the idea is noble He has agreed to work with the Board of Selectmen on this. concerned about conflict with existing exemption. Mr. Cronin offered an appreciation of Paul LeBeau for his years of excellent service.

Article 34 was indefinitely postponed.

ARTICLE 35.           To see if the Town will vote to transfer the care, custody and control of a certain parcel of property known as “Warren Woods II”, shown as Lot 125 of Block 1 on Assessors’ Map 14 and located off of Robert Road and Meadowbrook Lane, acquired as open space in 2014, to the Conservation Commission; or take any action relative thereto.  (Conservation Commission)

Approved

ARTICLE 36.           To see if the Town will vote to transfer the care, custody and control of certain parcels of property shown as Lot 21 of Block 6 on Assessors’ Map 4 located off of Washington Street, Lot 39 of Block 1 on Assessors’ Map 1 located off of Boynton Road, and Lots 4 and 5 of Block 3 on Assessors’ Map 8 located off of Howard Street, to the Conservation Commission; or take any action relative thereto.  (Conservation Commission)

Approved

 

ARTICLE 37.           To see if the Town will vote to amend the Town of Holliston Zoning By-laws at Section VI-J Design Advisory Committee by deleting the section in its entirety as well as deleting referral to the Design Advisory Committee from Section VII Site Plan Review at 4. Procedure for Approval; or take any action relative thereto.  (Planning Board)

Approved

ARTICLE 38.           To see of the Town will vote to amend the Town of Holliston Zoning By-laws at Section V-K Village Center Commercial District by altering the 3. Design Guidelines section as follows (Note: Strikethrough text is proposed to be deleted. Bold, italic text is new.):

Approved

ARTICLE 39.           To see if the Town will vote to accept as a public way, Connolly Way (Sta. 0+00 to end), as shown on the plan entitled “Acceptance Plan ‘Connolly Way’ Station 0+00 to 9+00, Holliston, MA” dated August 12, 2014, prepared by GLM Engineering Consultants, Inc., 19 Exchange, Holliston, MA  01746, such way having been laid out as a Town Way by the Board of Selectmen; or take any action relative thereto.  (Planning Board)

John Varrell asked while we are taking on the responsibility to provide services here, is there anyone here from Connolly Way?

Approved

ARTICLE 40.           To see if the Town will vote to accept as a public way, Rocky Woods Trail (Sta. 0+00 to end), as shown on the plan entitled “Rocky Woods Trail, Road Acceptance Plan in Holliston, MA” dated October 8, 2014, prepared by Precision Land Surveying, Inc. 32 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA  01772, such way having been laid out as a Town Way by the Board of Selectmen; or take any action relative thereto.  (Planning Board)

Approved

ARTICLE 41.           To see if the Town will vote to accept as a public way, Courtland Pines Drive (Sta. 0+00 to end), as shown on the plan entitled “Acceptance – As Built Plan Courtland Pines Drive Station 0+10 to 4+51, Plan of Land in Holliston, MA” dated March 11, 2015, prepared by Colonial Engineering, Inc., 11 Awl Street, Medway, MA  02053, such way having been laid out as a Town Way by the Board of Selectmen; or take any action relative thereto.  (Planning Board)

Approved

ARTICLE 42.           To see if the Town will vote to accept as a public way, Indian Ridge South (formerly James Road) in the Clearview Estates II Definitive Subdivision (Sta. 0+25 to 10+51.55), as shown on the plan entitled “Layout Plan of Land in Holliston, MA” dated March 13, 2014, prepared by Guerriere & Halnon, Inc., 333 West Street, Milford, MA  01757, such way having been laid out as a Town Way by the Board of Selectmen and will further vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen and acquire by gift, purchase or eminent domain, rights sufficient to use Indian Ridge South for all purposed for which public ways are used in the Town of Holliston; or take any action relative thereto.  (Planning Board)

Paul LeBeau came to the podium for his last time as Town Administrator to explain that problems in acquiring titles has brought this issue to Town Meeting three times. The Town and especially the  Planning Board has been working to resolve the issues.

Mr. LeBeau asked for a moment of personal privilege to say that it has been a privilege to serve this town. He said that it has been a privilege to work with all the talented people on the boards. People stood for an ovation in appreciation of Paul LeBeau's service to the town.

Karen Sherman, answering John Varrell's question whether we are we taking control of a road that we don't have the deed to, said that the road abuts a condominium complex and that there have been ongoing legal issues of the developer.

John Varrell persisted, asking why are we taking on this responsibility.

Geoff Zeamer explained that the problem is that it is hard to serve the residents on the road while the legal issues are addressed. This is the most expeditious way to resolve it.

Article 42 was approved.

Town Meeting was adjourned.

And you are directed to notify and warn the inhabitants of said Town who are qualified to vote in Town elections to vote at:

Voters in Precinct 1 vote at the High School gymnasium

Voters in Precinct 2 vote at the High School gymnasium

Voters in Precinct 3 vote at the High School gymnasium

Voters in Precinct 4 vote at the High School gymnasium

 

on TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2015

Question 1:  Shall the Town of Holliston be allowed to exempt from the provisions of Proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond to be issued in order to make roadway and streetscape improvements, including traffic signals and engineering costs, in the downtown area?     YES                  NO

 

Question 2:  Shall the Town of Holliston be allowed to exempt from the provisions of Proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond to be issued in order to purchase and renovate that property known as 1750 Washington Street for use by the Park Commission, Youth and Family Services and Veterans' Services for offices and programs?     YES                  NO

_____

From the unsung heroes department:

HCAT camera men Bob Nemets, above, and Bruce Gilfoy, caught all the action for those who could not make it to Town Meeting.

The votes are in and it's unanimous:

Ken Szajda is Mr. Town Meeting