TM voters breeze through articles in opening session

The first session of the 2013 annual town meeting adjourned a little after 10:30 p.m. on Monday, May 13, with most of the 41-article warrant completed. Only the main budget article for FY14, plus three zoning articles concerning a proposed Senior Housing Overlay District (SHOD) on Route 138 and a few other articles remained.

Selectmen had asked Town Moderator Alan Hines to delay calling the SHOD articles until after the budget article was enacted. Selectmen were still in negotiations with Dick Staiti, the attorney for Brightview Senior Living, on a possible agreement. Staiti, who attended a BOS executive session meeting prior to the start of Monday’s opening session, indicated that an agreement was close but that selectmen needed more time to deliberate and to consult with town counsel.

In other action Monday night:

* Voters approved an amendment by the Finance Committee to implement a two-year moratorium on the siting of medical marijuana treatment facilities. The Board of Selectmen had originally called for a three-year ban, while the Planning Board had suggested a one-year ban.

* The zoning articles related to the Plymouth Rubber property on Revere Street were postponed and will likely be reconsidered at a special town meeting in the fall.

* Voters extended the Community Preservation Act surcharge exemption (the first $100,000 of property value) to commercial property owners, pending ballot approval at the next town election. Voters also appropriated $20,000 from future CPA receipts for administrative and operating expenses. CPC Chairman Lisa Lopez said there will be no paid staff and the money will be used for environmental studies, legal fees, and public notice advertisements.

* Kevin Feeney, who has headed the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in Canton since 1999, said there is $5,701 remaining from the original appropriation of $4.23 million, with future work planned at Pequitside Farm and the new senior center.

* Voters designated the former Commercial Sheet Metal property at 465 Turnpike Street as a “priority development site” under Chapter 43D (expedited permitting). The property is now vacant, but Economic Development Committee Chairman Gene Manning said there is interest from developers, while noting that the EDC has had a very good success rate with other priority development sites around town.

* Voters rezoned small parcels of land on Royal Lane adjoining Boston Mutual from single residence AA to limited industrial.

* Starting next year, the deadline for submitting both zoning and non-zoning articles will be 120 days before the start of the May town meeting.

* At the urging of FinCom, voters authorized the transfer of $400,000 from free cash to the town’s stabilization fund for unforeseen emergencies. The move is designed to bolster the town’s current AAA bond rating, leading to lower borrowing rates.

* Voters authorized the transfer of $35,000 from free cash to the Recreation Department budget for the July 4 community celebration.

* Voters unanimously agreed to postpone a zoning amendment, put forth by attorney Paul Schneiders on behalf of a Turnpike Street property owner, that would have allowed light manufacturing uses in a business district by way of a special permit from the zoning board. Many people felt the proposal constituted “spot zoning,” while others noted that the change would have applied to all of the business districts in Canton.

* Voters authorized the formation of a Blue Hills Regional Technical School Stabilization Fund to be used for future capital projects.

* Voters authorized the borrowing of an additional $1.6 million for replacement windows at the Hansen and Galvin schools after previously appropriating $754,000 for the two projects at last year’s town meeting. The additional costs are for the removal of PCBs and asbestos, which were discovered in the caulking around the windows at both schools.

The School Department is slated to receive a 45 percent reimbursement from the Mass. School Building Authority following successful completion of the project in the summer of 2014.

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Posted by Mike Berger on May 16 2013. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.