Norton Residents Approve Capital Budget, Land Purchases and Money Transfers at Fall Town Meeting

Norton residents approved a $1.5 capital budget, land purchases, zoning changes and money transfers Monday night at the Fall Annual Town Meeting.

In the end, none of the 21 articles were rejected. Two (articles three and four) were dropped due to a lack of motion and one (article 21) was amended slightly.

The meeting lasted approximately two hours and fifteen minutes.

The majority of the meeting dealt with Article 14, which asked for the transfer of $50,000 from free cash to fund a consultant and propel clean-up work for Norton's waterbodies, including Barrowsville Pond, Chartley Pond, Norton Reservoir and Winnecunnet Pond.

Initial work done to study the water could be used to apply for a $365,000 grant in conjunction with the Southeastern Regional Services Group, Town Manager Michael Yunits said.

"This article [would provide] 50,000 in seed money the town can use as part of the study to get right to work in the spring with some of these problems in the ponds we have in the town," Yunits said.

After many residents spoke in favor of cleaning up Norton's ponds, Water and Sewer Commission Chair Diane McElligott proposed an amendment to the article to ask for a total of $500,000 - $50,000 from free cash and $450,000 to borrow - for the purpose of a consultant and clean-up work.

Following a brief recess so officials could clarify language involved in the amendment, Nick Adams of the Water Bodies Committee amended McElligott's amendment to ask for a total of $150,000 - $50,000 from free cash and $100,000 to borrow.

In the end, both amendments were shot down, but the original article passed.

The article just ahead of the water bodies article, Article 13, also generated discussion. The article asked for the town to appropriate $475,000 for the purchase of 7-acres off Newcomb St. and Newland St. for the eventual construction of a town-owned cemetery.

Yunits said the seven acres would provide nearly 7,000 cemetery plots in town. Currently, he said, Norton is running out of cemetery space.

"This would allow the town to have land that is easily developable," he said. "It’s a field right now. We’ve done our tests on this land to make sure the soil is suitable for the uses of territory."

The article passed overwhelmingly.

The largest money appropriation of the night came at the beginning when voters overwhelmingly approved a $1.5 million capital budget. The largest money sum within that budget is $350,000 for Town Hall/Fire Station improvements.

The improvements would include removing the stage where selectmen currently meet and creating a meeting room, creating more storage and office space, and renovating upstairs to potentially benefit the fire station.

Article 21, which creates a Permenant Building Committee, was amended slightly by School Committee Chair Deniz Savas before it was approved. The amendment called for all meetings to include a school committee representative and a selectmen representative in order to proceed with business.