TM supports BOS wishes for waterslide, skate park, salaries

Selectmen were pleased at the conclusion of Monday night’s opening session of the annual town meeting as a majority of voters endorsed the municipal version of the capital budget — against the recommendation of the Finance Committee — and kept intact the salaries of selectmen, the Board of Health, and assessors.

As a result, the town will be purchasing a new waterslide for the town pool and new skate park equipment for an enclosed area between the Galvin and Hansen schools, and will lease three new Fire Department vehicles.

Selectmen felt it was important to keep the skate park equipment ($35,000) and waterslide ($30,000) and to keep the $11,000 lease payments on the Fire Department’s pickup truck, command vehicle, and the fire chief’s car.

Selectmen Chairman Sal Salvatori and Selectman John Connolly said the waterslide was a good move for the town, giving children access to summer fun, while limiting the  insurance liability associated with the current diving board, which is damaged and in need of repair.

Selectmen also said that given the recent completion of the Downtown Streetscape Project, more children have been using the sidewalks to skateboard, which has created dangerous conditions both for the skateboarders and for pedestrians. Selectmen said the area between the Hansen and Galvin Middle schools would be a safer place for skateboarders, a sentiment shared by Police Chief Ken Berkowitz.

Citing the current economic times, however, Finance Committee Chairman Dave Emhardt said FinCom had trouble justifying the expense of the waterslide and skate park and instead chose to repair the diving board. Emhardt also said that FinCom does not support leasing because it leaves less capital for next year’s capital budget.

Gene Manning, chairman of the Capital Planning Committee, said the CPC endorsed the selectmen’s plans in all cases.

Regarding the FinCom’s wish to eliminate salaries for new selectmen, assessors, and Board of Health members (current members would have been grandfathered in), Emhardt and FinCom member Pat Johnson said their goal was to create an equal system for all town officials while also saving the town money. FinCom members added that the move would eliminate related health insurance costs.

Selectmen countered that their sums of $1,400 for each member and an additional $200 for a chairman are modest and used for expenses. Assessors are paid $2,400 and each member of the Board of Health is paid $600.

Salvatori said only two town officials use individual health insurance and he did not believe the town would suddenly see an increase in officials choosing the individual health plans.

Selectman Avril Elkort said that selectmen, assessors, and Board of Health members — because of the nature of their jobs — should be viewed as town employees and not simply volunteers.

“We are acting many times in negotiations on behalf of the town, and we should not have a diminished role,” she said.

The surprise winner Monday night was the library, with Director Mark Lague getting his wish of $8,000 for computer workstations and $3,000 for book collections. Both selectmen and the Finance Committee endorsed the library’s request.

The other major portion of Monday’s first session focused on the recodification of the town’s zoning bylaws, which received unanimous approval from voters and was endorsed by the zoning and planning boards.

Professor Mark Bobrowski — consultant to the zoning board with vast experience in recodification of zoning bylaws in many communities — received applause from the audience at the conclusion of his presentation. Bobrowski went through each section, describing what language changes he made.

Bobrowski established sections for districts, uses, non-conforming uses, general regulations, special regulations, accessory apartments, special overlay districts, administration and procedures, job descriptions and duties, criteria for special permits, and a glossary of zoning terms.

Copies of the report are available at Town Hall, the selectmen’s office, Planning Board’s office, building inspector’s office, and the library.

Although the recodifcation needed a two-thirds majority to pass, no dissenting votes were heard.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Apr 29 2010. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.