In the annual Fall Town Meeting Wednesday night, voters approved funding for library, the new Town Charter and $300 fines for marijuana use and made the Town Clerk position an appointed one. Here are more quick notes on what happened during the meeting. Check back later for a more detailed story.
Article 1- Passed- Transfer of $2,167.76 from free cash for bills incurred in prior fiscal year.
Article 2- Passed- No money included. Collective Bargaining Agreement between Town of Norton and salaried employees of North America Local 9158-A or any other unions.
Article 3- Passed- $10,000 for federally mandated Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement #45.
Article 4- Passed- Transfer of $187,865.66 for contractual retirement sick leave and vacation buy back provisions for two members of the fire department and one retiring member of the library staff.
Article 5- Lack of motion- Transfer of money to repair steam pipe damage at Yelle Elementary.
Article 6- Passed- Established separate account for Water Department.
Article 7- Passed- Established separate account for Sewer Department.
Article 8- Passed- Transfer of $124,600 in free cash to Sewer Stabilization Fund.
Article 9- Passed- Transfer of $14,000 from Water Surplus Account to fund contractual agreement between Town of Norton and Robert and Paula Kimball.
Article 10- Passed- Vote to raise or appropriate $10,000 for household hazardous waste collection.
Article 11- Passed- Vote to raise and appropriate money to supplement Fiscal Year 2012 operational budget.
Article 12- Passed- Transfer of $769,400 from free cash to bring balance in Capitol Improvement Account to $946,988.
Article 13- Passed- Transfer of $324,073 from Capitol Improvement Account, $83,000 from Ambulance Reserve Account and $54,332.55 to purchase or lease capitol items for various town departments.
Article 14- Lack of motion- Appropriation of funds for Stabilization Fund.
Article 15- Lack of motion- Make Johnson Road a public way.
Article 16- Passed after standing count taken. There were 82 yes votes and 74 no votes. Authorization of Town Clerk’s office to remain closed on all Saturdays and treat Saturdays as legal holiday for purposes of calculating the timeframe for filing matters in that office, or take any action relative thereto.
Article 17- Passed- People caught using marijuana in public will be fined $300.
Article 18- Passed- Civil fingerprinting for certain license applicants.
Article 19- Passed. After much discussion and failed attempts to either make an amendment to the article or table it until next week, voters approved the Town Charter changes by a 2/3 vote sending the charter change to a ballot vote in the spring.
Article 20- Passed after reconsideration. In the first round, the article to have Water and Sewer Commissioners be appointed rather than elected failed to achieve a 2/3 vote with 63 yes votes and 34 no votes. Later in the night, 46 out of 81 voters moved to reconsider the article, which then passed with 62 yes votes and 20 no votes.
Article 21- Passed- With 76 yes votes to 22 no votes, Town Clerk position will change from elected to appointed.
Norton Politics
9:26 am on Thursday, October 13, 2011
Another great turnout for town meeting....when are the selectman going to start waking up and realizing this system doesnt work!
Lee Tarantino
7:42 pm on Saturday, October 15, 2011
Sorry, it has taken so long to reply to your post Norton Politics. I find it odd that you use the pen name Norton Politics and do not know how our form of town government can be changed. It is easy to blame the BOS but they are not what lays in the way of starting the process, it is approximately 1,500 voters that are. If your feel so strongly we should have a different type of government by all means start collecting signatures.
Norton Resident
1:44 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011
Actually, the votes on the Water and Sewer Commissioners and Town Clerk only approved sending the charter change to a ballot vote in the Spring. Only if the ballot votes pass will these positions change from elected to appointed.
Kelly A. Mello
2:06 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011
Thank you, I have clarified this.
Norton Politics
10:21 pm on Saturday, October 15, 2011
Lee-I am well aware of that fact of how to change the form of gov't but unfotunatly I dont have the time in this world to do that I would if I could trust me.... I need to work like everyone else and my work occupies a lot of my time.I respect the BOS and respect any town official that serves on any board bc it is a tough job. I'm sorry, I dont want the random 90 people that show up at TM making decisions on a 45 million dollar budget...I would rather elect people to make those decisions for me. Why I criticize the BOS is that they can get this process going faster yet they just go on as business as usual. As a taxpayer and voter in this town I have the right to bring these issues up in a public forum that other citizens just arent aware of. I just think that 90 people making decisions for a population of 20,000 people just doesn't add up...I have not seen one town official besides the Town Moderator come out and call for a change....haven't heard a peep from the 5 people who make the big decisions.
Bill Gouveia
10:44 am on Sunday, October 16, 2011
The selectman had a Town Government Study Committee. That Committee voted to suggest changing the governmental format. The selectmen put the topic on the ballot as a non-binding referendum question. It passed - voters said they wanted to consider the change. The selectmen then ignored it. You do NOT need 1500 signatures. You need an appointed committee and a home rule petition. And leadership that actually wants change.
Lee Tarantino
4:54 pm on Sunday, October 16, 2011
It either takes a petition of 15% of the voters to start the process or a petitioning to the General Court to pass a special act. The selectmen at the time felt petitioning was not the way to change our form of government and no one stepped forward to get the ball rollIng. If town meeting is such an aweful system and so many people don't like it then someone can put out the effort. The real problem is you can't find 15% of the voters that even care what form we have as long as they are not bothered. And, this is something we discussed when we both served on the government study committee.
Norton Politics
5:43 pm on Sunday, October 16, 2011
So Lee you basically back up my argument in the fact that if you can't find 15% of the population who cares to make a gov't change... shouldnt it then be left up to the Selectman to make a decision on behalf of the people they serve? Just because people aren't Occupying Norton Common to demand change doesn't mean that the change isn't warranted. If you've looked at the attendance numbers for the past fours years of Annual TM's...not special TM's...it doesn't even equal to 1 percent of the voting population...its a disgrace but thats the world we live in and we need a more transparent system of gov't thats all. and the only people at this point who can get the ball rolling are the selectman.
Bill Gouveia
8:32 pm on Sunday, October 16, 2011
That's a cop-out Lee. Very few towns go the 15% route anymore, it is too labor intensive and ineffective to have an elected Charter Commission. Many towns have gone the home rule petition route in the last 5-10 years and changed the format. The selectmen did NOT say this "was not the way to change our form of government" but instead said it could not be done that way. They were wrong. Yes, someone can start a petition to Town Meeting and vote to form a committee. But given the selectmen's track record, who is going to do that only to be ignored as you and I were when we served? Unless and until the selectmen indicate they will be receptive, no one is going to do a lot of work for nothing. What we are lacking is leadership from elected officials.