Additional news and notes from 2015 town meeting
By Mike Berger* Town meeting voted to spend $655,165 for seven proposals benefitting historical preservation and affordable housing as recommended by the Canton Community Preservation Committee (CCPC). The approved projects include $414,000 for improvements to the David Tilden House at Pequitside Farm; $100,000 for electrical and fire alarm work at the veterans housing units on Pequit Street; $99,120 to preserve the steeple at First Parish Unitarian Church; $15,000 to restore the historic Blake Co. bell at the Ponkapoag Fire Station; $11,000 for preliminary work for preserving historic graves at Canton Corner Cemetery: $10,000 for preserving historic documents at the Canton Historical Society: and $5,895 for preserving the historic Martha Howard petticoat.
CCPC Chair Lisa Lopez said the committee did not spend the entire allotments in 2014 and 2015 and expects to begin 2016 with $1.3 million. A portion of the CPA funds will be used to pay for the purchase of 6.85 acres of open space at the Plymouth Rubber site. The town will finance the purchase ($1.74M) with a 10-year bond.
* Town meeting defeated an amendment to the zoning map proposing an extension of the solar photovoltaic installation overlay district (SPOD) to include a portion of land along Walpole Street owned by Knollwood Cemetery. Despite the town and abutters having the opportunity to purchase electricity at below-market rates, residential abutters were concerned about the amount of woodland that the developer would have to cut down. “There is nothing garden-like about this,” resident George Golabek said of the proposed Solar Garden Facility. “If you cut 14 acres of trees, you exacerbate the drainage problems.”
* Selectmen Chairman Victor Del Vecchio said the BOS will soon establish a Paul Revere Heritage Park Committee to review the reuse of the Revere copper mill and barn and to regulate the use of the surrounding nine acres of town-owned parkland. Attorney Paul Schneiders, representing Canton Holdings LLC, said his client has up to a year to file for a permit for the first phase of construction. The full build-out of the Plymouth Rubber development will be done in five phases over the next six years.
* On May 13, town meeting held a moment of silence in honor of former town counsel and town moderator Michael Curran, who passed away on May 11.
* Town meeting authorized the town to petition the state legislature to seek up to five additional liquor licenses and up to two additional package store licenses.
* Voters approved zoning changes allowing restaurants and motor vehicle repair/motor vehicle body repair and painting facilities in a limited industrial district. Voters also approved a zoning amendment designed to assist in the revitalization of Route 138 by permitting new uses, such as offices and retail stores, within the limited industrial district on Turnpike Street.
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Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=29571
Posted by Mike Berger
on May 21 2015. Filed under News, Town Government.
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