Adams Selectmen Review Town Meeting Warrant
ADAMS, Mass. — Town meeting members will decide 26 articles at the annual town meeting in June, including allocating funds for repairs at C.T. Plunkett School.
Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco took the Selectmen through the articles at last week's workshop meeting.
The first 19 articles are standard annual town meeting articles, he said, but Article 20 asks to appropriate $100,000 from free cash to replace Plunkett's boiler-room roof that is in disrepair.
With the possible closing of an elementary school in the near future, Adams wants to make sure C.T. Plunkett is in good shape so it is chosen by the school committee to stay open.
"It shows our commitment to the facility and our commitment to take care of a building that at the end of the day we do own," Mazzucco said.
He added that the school itself is in surprisingly good shape.
The money will be a town expenditure and is not going to the school district. If not spent, it goes back into free cash.
Selectman Joseph Nowak asked if the town had any interest in purchasing the gas station near the school to create more parking.
"I think if we are going to plan, I don't know how it will play out, but I know one disadvantage right now at Plunkett is parking and that might be something to think about," Nowak said.
The station was put up last month for auction by owner O'Connell Oil Associates but failed to find a buyer.
Mazzucco said town meeting would have to appropriate money for it but he has no idea how much it would cost to purchase or remediate. He said he would look into it.
Article 21 would draw $40,000 from the local meals and lodging tax revenue to establish the economic development fund. When fully collected the town will be able to draw $80,000. A full fiscal year is needed to establish this amount.
Mazzucco said $30,000 will be used for the Greylock Glen, and the remaining $10,000 will be used for advertising and other downtown projects.
"We are investing heavily into the glen this year which is important," he said. "It will take us a few years to bring the project to completion and every little dollar helps."
Article 22 will allow restaurants to serve liquor beginning at 10 a.m. on Sundays as well as on holidays. Local restaurateurs asked for the change to serve at brunch.
Article 23 would allow the selectmen to review and update the town's fee schedule.
Article 24 is a returning article to eliminate plastic bags from the last annual town meeting. The citizen's petition failed last year because it was felt the notice was too short to make the change; this year, the town has prepared its own article and local retailers are ready for the switch that would be effective March 1, 2017.
"It is straightforward, easy to enforce, and easy to understand," Mazzucco said. "Most of the retailers ... have stores in other areas that have done this so it is not a big deal for them to prepare."
Last town meeting also saw a Styrofoam ban article. Mazzucco said the town is not ready to make this change.
"There has been no outreach or communication because it is much more complicated," he said. "We want to move forward on making some environmental progress, and this is a good step."
The last article will be to give the Agricultural Fair some funds from free cash. This citizens' petition article is put on the warrant every year. Mazzucco said it may be worth writing it into the budget.
Selectman Arthur "Skip" Harrington said he would like to know where this money is going.
"When I read this I see a lot of things in there we don't know anything about ... I would like more detail with something like this," he said.
Mazzucco suggested calling the Aggie Fair folks in to go over where the money goes and maybe hold a tour of Bowe Field.
He said the town will create a Memorial Building task force to look at options for the building. He said the committee should have selectmen, youth center organizers, and members of the public.
"We think the best way to go forward with the school is to make a task force committee where everyone is involved that will look into what it will look like when we are there and what the cost will be," he said. ".We kind of want know what it looks like on paper."
Chairman Jeffrey Snoonian said the task force's goal would be to see what is sustainable in the building.
"I'd like to get hard numbers that say if the Youth Center wants to go there, this is what it will take to run that building," Snoonian said. "I know I don't have a terrific handle on what that is."
He said much of this work has been done and it will be the task force's job to focus on a solution.
In the unlikely that the town should not keep the building, the task force can then look at the ramifications of getting rid of it. Most likely it would have to give it away.
"We may find out this may not be doable then we try to get rid of it and we vet the buyers as best as we can," Snoonian said.
Mazzucco said the board will begin the process of reviewing town fees so that that are up to date and cover costs.
"They should somehow cover the cost of the service they are providing," he said. "In some cases they are and in some they aren't. I think a parking meter fee costs $5. To write the ticket costs more than that."
The selectmen said they would look at the fees and come back with recommendations.
They also started listing goals for the upcoming fiscal year and agreed one should be a charter review.
Tags: town meeting 2016, town meeting warrant,
