[Rich, 00:28]

• Called to order at 20:00.
• The Moderator reminded everyone that this year TM will have the opportunity to elect an Assistant Moderator. On the first night of the Annual TM, the Moderator will take nominations from the floor. If there is more than one nomination, the election will be postponed until the following session so the Clerk can print up ballots for the election.
• BoS Chair Greeley introduced the new Town Manager, Brian Sullivan, who said that he was glad to be here and that Arlington has been looked up to by other municipalities in the state for being a pioneer in a number of areas.
• Mr. Greeley moved that if the meeting was not completed, it come back tomorrow, as there were a number of people from out-of-town in for the Peirce Field agreement amendment article.
• Ms. Boltz (1) presented a plaque the Town received from the the ACLU of Massachusetts for the Town's anti-PATRIOT Act resolution of last year. She asked the BoS to have it "displayed appropriately" in Town Hall.
• Mr. Greeley said E.A. Fish will be having a public meeting at 19:00 in the Symmes Cafeteria tomorrow (26 February).
• Mr. McCabe (21) said that former Selectmen and current AHA member Richard Murray is "very ill" and to keep him in our prayers.
• Article 1 - Reports:
  • Joint report of BoS and FinComm received.
  • Tabled.
• Article 2 - Peirce Field
  • Selectmen recommended a vote to approve an settlement agreement "substantially in the form" as contained in Appendix A of the BoS/FinComm report.
  • Mr. Greeley asked for one hour for the presentation.
  • Mr. Judd (9) asked if a whole hour was really needed, then withdrew his objection.
  • Town Counsel Maher introduced the Industrial Parties (IPs) and their representatives. He said there were over 150 negotiating sessions and that the IPs were good corporate citizens and have on the whole been very reasonable.
  • Ms. Donovan said the Town has been dealing with the field issue for many years. She said the field will be an attractive, healthy, clean, safe place for our children and the proposal is a long-term remedy which is environmentally safe and meets regulatory requirements. She said the project would begin in May 2004 at the DPW yard and move into Peirce Field once school ended. The football field would be back on line in Fall 2005 and the other fields in Spring 2006. She said Arlington teams would have to play their home games elsewhere in the meantime and that SchoolComm would keep everyone apprised of alternate sites.
  • Mr. Miett(sp?), the licensed site professional (LSP) for the IPs said that contaminants are "at depth" and that both Peirce Field and the DPW yard are safe for their current uses. He said the new fields will be state-of-the-art and will be a "permanent solution." The DPW yard, however, will be a "temporary solution" due to the nature of the use there. Said solution is just as safe as a permanent solution, but will be reviewed every five years to see if the solution should be changed.
  • Mr. Maher reviewed the main terms of the original 2001 agreement and pointed out what the amendments changed. [Much of his time was a recap of what was already in the BoS/FinComm report -- rather than repeat all that here, I'll point you to the report.] He did note that the IPs and the Town have a written agreement that anything the Town parties said at the Special TM could not be used against the Town in litigation. He said one key point is that instead of reimbursing the Town 67% of the cost of a field house (up to a maximum reimbursement of $2.667mil), which we would never see unless the facility was built, the IPs will give the town $1.667mil up front for site improvements (artificial playing surface, new bleachers, etc), with the remaining $1mil in escrow to be used towards a field house if it is ever built. He said that the toll-free number 877-987-2778 and email address grovestreetsite@us.ngrid.com have been set up for outreach, along with the MassElectric outreach page.
  • Mr. Fiore (2) said a speaker said the track would be replaced, but saw no such language in the amendment. Mr. Maher said the track replacement is covered in the Basic Agreement, and that the Town would be able to have track meets it has never been able to have. Mr. Miett said the new track would be rubberized and have six lanes.
  • Mr. Leonard (17) asked what time of day the construction would be happening and cited the noise abatement by-law. Mr. Maher pointed out the Town Manager can waive the by-law in certain cases and that the Town Manager is intending to allow work past 20:00 and on Saturdays on a trial basis, though the goal would be for the heaviest work to take place during the normal hours. Mr. Leonard voiced doubts about that plan.
  • Mr. Gee (19) asked what is dangerous about the contaminants and how and when they were discovered. Mr. Miett said they were discovered when soil tests were done after a tank was pulled out of the DPW yard in 1991. He said the contaminated areas are safe due to the depth of the chemicals, but that if one is exposed to those chemicals, they can cause contact dermatitis in the short-term to a small fraction of the population, and have bad health effects to people in general in the long-term.
  • Mr. Kohl (19) noted that the amendment appears to be almost entirely in the Town's favor and asked what the IPs got in return for their concessions. Mr. Maher said the Town takes responsibility for fixing the culvert and dealing with flooding issues, but that the main thing was the IPs wanting to stay out of an adversarial process for PR reasons. Mr. Kohl noted that some work would be ongoing when students returned in Fall 2004 and asked if students' studies would be interfered with. Mr. Miett said there will be construction and some noise. Mr. Kohl asked about interactions between the Peirce work and the Summer Street work. DPW Director Sanchez said that most of the Peirce work is on-site and there will not be much coming-and-going at the site and that no problems are forseen in this area.
  • Mr. Ford (18) asked if the practice soccer field would be real or if there would be a slab under it. Mr. Miett said it would be a real practice field (the space is too small for a regulation field). Mr. Ford asked where a field house would go if it were ever built. Ms. Donovan said it would go on the practice field.
  • Mr. McCabe (21) asked what the "substantially the form provided" language in the vote meant. Mr. Maher said that the language provides wiggle room to fix typos, grammar mistakes and other form-related issues in the agreement but does not allow for substantive changes. Mr. McCabe asked about a number of typos he found and Mr. Maher said that illustrated well the point of the "substantially" language. Mr. McCabe asked what "PAHs" are. Mr. Miett said they are poly-aromatic-hydrocarbons. Mr. McCabe asked if the $250,000 appropriation for the culvert should be taken up first. Mr. Maher said the agreement was contingent on that appropriation passing. Mr. McCabe moved to table Article 2 and the motion was defeated.
  • Park&Recreation Commission Carabello (2) said that the Commission voted 4-1 in favor of the amendment and that he personally was in favor of it. He said it was positive for the Town. He addressed the artificial surface planned for the field, saying it was much different (and better) than Astroturf and that a number of local fields including one in Belmont and the field behind Danehy Park in Cambridge have the same surface.
  • Mr. Daly (17) moved the previous question - debate terminated.
  • BoS recommendation approved unanimously.
• Article 3 - Muncipal Building Insurance Trust Fund:
  • FinComm recommended a vote to transfer $100,000 from the fund to cover library damage plus a $35,000 contingency.
  • FinComm recommendation approved unanimously.
• Article 4 - Capital Budget:
  • FinComm recommended a vote to appropriate and borrow $250,000 for the Town's share of the Peirce Field culvert work.
  • Mr. Judd (9) asked if this would be all that would be needed to be appropriated to finish the project. Mr. Maher said the question could not be answered as the Town still has potential financial exposure. He said any future appropriations would have to be done by TM and that the Town would have no further exposure on the culvert, as the amendment called for the IPs to bear all but $250,000 of the culvert cost, no matter what the ultimate cost.
  • Mr. Deyst (14) moved the previous question - debate terminated.
  • FinComm recommendation approved unanimously.
• Article 5 - CBA/Ranking Police Officers:
  • FinComm recommended an appropriation of $94,700, to be taken from several prior-year CBA articles, to give the ranking officers a 3% raise for FY2003.
  • Mr. Maher said this was a catch-up for the only union not have received a raise in FY2003.
  • Mr. Gee (19) said he believed officers deserved a raise but that he would oppose it because he felt the Town could not afford it, especially since a raise is not a one-time cost. He said he would like to see Town employees and the general populace fight for a Prop 2.5 override, but until then he would oppose raises for any Town employees.
  • Mr. Dunn (11) asked if there was any progress with health insurance givebacks. Mr. Maher said he was limited by CBA negotiation laws in what he could say, but did say that it was brought up, that the Town did not get any such givebacks, that negotiations got rather acrimonious, and that both sides eventually thought it best to just deal with FY2003 to set up for dealing with all the unions in the same way at the same time in FY2004.
  • Mr. Leonard (17) moved the previous question - debate terminated.
  • FinComm recommendation approved.
• Article 6 - Internet Information Officer:
  • BoS recommended no action.
  • Mr. Cleinman offered a resolution reminding the BoS that TM wants to see minutes, agendas, etc. timely posted to the town website.
  • Ms. Lieberson (9) asked if Mr. Clienman's proposal was a subsitution motion. The Moderator said it was not, but that it would have the same general effect here in that if approved it would replace the no action recommendation.
  • Mr. Quinn (10) moved the previous question - debate terminated.
  • Cleinman resolution approved.
• Article 1 taken from the table.
• Motion to dissolve - approved.
• Special Town Meeting dissolved, approximately 22:25.