[Rich, 00:40]
Business...

• Starting Time: Mr. Greeley made a motion that when the meeting adjourn, it adjourn to 19:30 on 7 May. Mr. Carreiro moved to amend the time to 20:00. Someone (I missed the name) rose in support of the amendment and said that a different starting time is not fair to TMMs, especially newly elected TMMs, who took on the obligation assuming the start time would be 20:00. He suggested that a new start time be determined just before this TM dissolves, so that everyone would know what to expect for the following year. The amendment was approved and then the original motion as amended was approved.
• As I mentioned in a prior post, the Annual TM was recessed and the Special TM opened. Cognizant of the just-settled starting time issue, the motion fixing the time of adjourment of the STM specified 20:00, and it was approved.
• Article 1 - Reports: Mr. Foskett presented the report of the Symmes Advisory Committee, after some discussion about whether or not he should be given an hour to present it and whether or not it should be given under Article 1 or Article 3. It was too long and detailed to even attempt to summarize. See the Symmes Advisory Committee website for more details. One short important point is that the Urban Renewal Plan is essentially an enterprise fund -- think of it as a town-owned business. It owns its own income and expenses, with the provisio that if it runs out of cash the Town has to make it whole and if it generates surplus cash, that cash can be given over to the Town's general fund. But until and unless either of those two events happen, it has no effect on the tax rate.
• Article 2 - AHA Proposal: The Board of Selectmen recommended a vote of no action on the proposal of the Arlington Housing Authority to buy a to-be-determined 40,000 sq ft. Ms. Worden of the AHA set forth a substitute motion for the AHA to pay $800,000 for the 40,000 sq ft and develop a 75-unit elderly and handicapped building themselves (at this point it was already 21:45, and TM had its belated 10 minute break). Mr. Foskett said that such a proposal represents a significant discount to what the SAC believes that much land could be sold for and that it could make the remaining developable space uneconomical to be developed. Mr. McClennan made it clear that contrary to an assertion by one of the AHA speakers, that $800,000 would not go into the Town's general fund but would remain within the Urban Renewal Plan. Subsequent speakers talked about the AHA's track record and a desire for more elderly housing, or talked about how the AHA proposal would hurt bids or even render the redevelopment plan infeasible, depending on which side of the question they were on. Reaching 23:00 and with 16 people on the list to speak, the Moderator entertained a motion to adjourn, which was quickly offered and approved. Special Town Meeting adjourned to 20:00 on Wednesday, 7 May, 2003. (Annual TM remains in recess).