ATM could be a one-night affair

With few hot-button topics and even fewer proposed zoning changes appearing in the warrant this year, Canton’s annual town meeting, which gets underway Monday evening in the CHS Morse Auditorium, could end up being one of the shortest in recent memory.

The lack of any discernable controversies even has some town officials predicting — or at least hoping for — a one-night finish, although doing so would mean getting through all 39 articles, including the entire FY 2011 budget, before the meeting adjourns at 11 p.m.

Such a finish would also depend on how quickly voters are able to tackle a couple of key questions, including whether to appropriate additional funds to the Canton Public Schools, which enters town meeting with a projected operating shortfall of $360,000 in FY10 and a shortfall of nearly $1.4 million in FY11.

The schools will seek to close the current gap using a transfer from the town’s free cash reserves, a move unanimously supported by the Finance Committee in Article 9.

In recommending the transfer, FinCom has agreed that the cause of the deficit — unexpected increases in out-of-district special education costs, coupled with a decrease in related state reimbursements — qualifies as a “financial emergency” similar to the $400,000 snow and ice removal deficit also addressed in Article 9.

However, FinCom does not agree with the schools’ request for more funds in FY11, indicating in its ATM report that “the reduction in revenue and increase in expenses should be properly budgeted for,” while calling for “continued restraint in budget spending” as long as state aid remains compromised.

The report also stated that the Finance Committee “has recommended to all departments that they work with unions to institute a wage freeze or a wage reduction in order to save jobs.” Under the terms of the current contract, most town union members received a 2.5 percent cost of living increase this year and will receive a 3 percent increase in FY11.

School officials, meanwhile, have already indicated their plans to seek additional funding for FY11, most likely through requests made on the floor of town meeting during discussions of Article 39, when all funds for the next fiscal year will be appropriated. As of April 15, the School Committee had approved over $930,000 in cuts and fee increases; however, in the absence of more funding, another $440,000 in positional cuts would be necessary in order to meet its base budget of $29.8 million.

Beyond the potential debate over the school budget, voters will be asked to settle a disagreement between the Capital Planning Committee and the Finance Committee regarding certain capital expenditures outlined in Article 13. Specifically, FinCom has recommended, by a vote of 6-1, that a portion of the funds requested by the Recreation Department — $35,000 for the construction of a new skate park on Pecunit Street and $30,000 for a waterslide at the Bolivar Pool — be used instead to fund the purchase of two replacement vehicles for the Fire Department and to pay off lease-purchase agreements on two other town vehicles.

The CPC, on the other hand, approved the waterslide purchase as a “welcome addition to the town recreation complex.” It also supported the skate park project, in part, because it would protect the recent investment in the downtown area, where skaters frequently interfere with businesses and pedestrians.

As for zoning changes, this year’s town warrant features only two, and neither is expected to generate much debate.

One of them, Article 15, is actually a complete recodification of the existing bylaws, a project undertaken by the Zoning Board of Appeals to modernize and clarify outdated language and to reorganize the bylaws in a “more logical and user-friendly format.”

The second zoning change, outlined in Article 14, would amend the Parkland, Recreation and Open Space District bylaw so that no new buildings or structures would be permitted on PROSD land. The amendment is partly a reaction to the recent ZBA ruling that permitted a water treatment facility to be built on town-owned land behind Riverview Road.

Although not a zoning article by definition, Article 16 would reinstate the Route 138 Revitalization Study Committee, which tried, unsuccessfully, to rezone two large stretches of Rte. 138 at last year’s town meeting in an effort to attract new businesses to the area.

Other articles of note to be discussed at ATM 2010 include Article 7, which proposes the elimination of stipends for newly elected town officials; Articles 17 and 18, which ask voters to approve or reject the local option taxes on meals and hotels; and Article 28, which requests authorization to lease the Pine Street Landfill site for the purposes of constructing a solar panel field and generating electricity.

Town meeting will commence at 7:30 p.m. and will adjourn at 11 p.m. It will continue to meet on consecutive Mondays and Wednesdays until all business has concluded.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Apr 22 2010. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.