Williamstown Voters to Face Spending, Land Issues
 Voters at last month's special town meeting. Two articles set aside by voters will be back before them at Tuesday's annual town meeting. |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Voters will take up a 38-question warrant at Tuesday night's annual town meeting, including two controversial land articles and a request to put aside money to fund a feasibility study for a new police station.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Mount Greylock Regional High School.
There are two articles at the end of the warrant that would allow voters to remove land from conservation for development of affordable housing by majority vote, and take one land in particular — the Lowry property.
The 30-acre parcel off Stratton Road has become a flashpoint in the town's desire to increase affordable housing and close the Spruces Mobile Home Park.
Advocates for maintaining Lowry as farmland had hoped the town would vote to preserve it at last month's special town meeting — which had the same two articles — but a growing chorus of "time out" from government boards led voters to take no action. The Board of Selectmen and Conservation Commission earlier this month recommended that the town take no action on the land articles until more discussion and research can be done.
The Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee are recommending against a citizen's petition submitted by Kenneth Swiatek to take $365,000 from the Community Preservation or general funds to give to the Save the Spruces cooperative to help them buy the Spruces Mobile Home Park.
The board recently accepted the $6 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in an agreement with park owner Morgan Management to buy and close the park. The park is in a flood zone and was heavily damaged by Tropical Storm Irene.
The proposed fiscal 2014 budget is $6.727 million, up about 2.4 percent over this year.
Among the increases are a 36 percent hike in legal fees, from $25,743 to $35,000, because of events including the scuttled biomass plan in Pownal, Vt.; infrastructure projects and vehicle replacement. The budget also includes cost-savings efficiences, and two administrative posts that were combined.
|
Warrant from the town website |
Both the Selectmen and Finance Committee are recommending adoption of the budget, which will be offset by raising and appropriating $6.5 million in taxes with the balance from water and sewer receipts, and the cemetery and Sherman Burbank Memorial trust funds.
The school budget is $5.5 million, up 5.2 percent, although nearly $1 million will come from non-appropriated funds. Student enrollment is expected at 399 this coming year. The McCann Technical School assessment is $267,523, down nearly 11 percent because of no change in enrolled students from Williamstown and last year's expansion of the vocational district to Cheshire and Lanesborough.
The Mount Greylock Regional High School assessment is $4.6 million, down more than $50,000 from this year.
Also on the warrant is a debt service of $457,955; a capital improvement program of $718,254 (for culvert repairs and replacements, meter replacements, curbs and sidewalks and the replacement of an International dump truck damaged during the winter ($131,00); transfers into reserve, stabilization and revolving accounts; $68,563 for the Youth Center; a rate of $3.79 per 100 cubic feet for water.
Voters will also be asked to appropriate $160,000 from the unreserved fund balance to begin engineering and architectural studies for a police station. The town's current station is cramped, has accessibility issues and is not considered particularly safe for the public, officers or suspects.
Officials have been mulling the possibility of expanding town offices to accommodate a modern complex or building new, including at the corner of Routes 2 and Route 7. The article, No. 23, also authorizes the Selectmen to negotiate "the acquisition of a suitable site as defined by the study." Both Finance Commitee and Selectmen unanimously approved the article.
Community Preservation articles set funding at $25,000 for the South Williamstown Historical Commettee's continued cemetery restoration at Southlawn, $2,000 for chimney preservation at the Col. Benjamin Simonds House, $200,000 to the Affordable Housing Trust and $65,000 for public drinking water supply at Margaret Lindley Park.
Also on the warrant is the adoption of state law, MGL Chapter 6, Section 172B 1/2, which would require certain vendors applying for licenses to fingerprinted and background checked: solicitors, dealers of secondhand articles, junk and pawn dealers, taxi driver, ice cream and food truck vendors, and alcohol license holders.
There six zoning bylaw amendments, including the rezoning of North Street to extend the existing limited-business district southward to several parcels currently zoned "tourist business," allowing bed and breakfasts in rural zones and creating a "Southern Gateway District" from the intersection of the Taconic Trail to 200 feet north of Bee Hill Road. It is designed to protect that area from overdevelopment.
Tags: conserved land, fiscal 2014, school budget, Spruces, town meeting, town warrant,
