[Rich, 09:31]
Session 8 - the train kept a-rollin' all night long...well, for part of the night, anyways.

• Called to order at 20:06.
• The Moderator noted that at the current 4.33 articles per session we would be in session through the end of June and attempted to discourage motions to postpone and table.
• Voted that when we adjourn we adjourn to 23 May at 20:00.
• Mr. Foskett moved to take Article 2 from the table. Approved.
• Article 2 - Reports
  • Permanent Town Building Committee report received.
  • Mr. Cole recapped the PTBC report. Of note is that the Brackett is now finally done and the Town will be getting paid back $70,000 spent on noise abatement. The Hardy noise abatement work is also done and the Town is in litigation to get money back. He said the state will approve the Ottoson costs and that the Town should be getting the first reimbursement check in a few months.
  • Information Technology Advisory Committee report received.
  • Ms. Galkowski recapped the ITAC report.
  • Mr. Foskett moved to table. Tabled.
• Article 29 - Home Rule Petition/Civil Service [cont'd]
  • Mr. Dunn supported the BoS recommendation. He said that even the state Civil Service chair says the system is broken and there there are many positions where it is not economically worth giving exams.
  • Ms. Phelps urged a vote for the BoS recommendation. She said the clerical personnel know what they are doing and that Town Meeting needs to stay out of union negotiations.
  • Mr. Thrope (as a SchoolComm member) said the union asked for the positions to be removed and that the contract includes protections the personnel felt more advantageous than Civil Service protections.
  • Mr. Carreiro moved the previous question. Debate terminated.
  • BoS recommendation approved by voice vote, then approved 142-13 because the Legislature likes a count on HR petitions.
  • In a (by his own admission) rare move, the Moderator allowed Mr. Rosselli to offer an amendment on what we had just approved.
  • Mr. Roselli offered an amendment saying the BoS could not send in the HR petition until a "neutral" had been appointed to give an opinion on the negotiated contract. He said there are problems with non-CS being hired for CS positions should they be laid off by the Town. He said a CS exam could be called in Arlington.
  • Ms. LaCourt (as TMM) was against the amendment saying that the clerical staff are adults, can understand the consequences of their actions, and would be insulted by it.
  • Mr. Lavalle said it is not an insult, arguing the staff did not have the information to evaluate the consequences rather than being unable to understand them. He asked if Ms. Donovan had ever called for exams. She replied she had done so many times and that the staff had ever paid for an exam but had never received anything but postponement notices. Mr. Lavalle said he disputed that answer and that an exam could be called. He supported the amendment.
  • Mr. Carreiro moved the previous question. Debate terminated.
  • Roselli motion defeated.
  • Mr. Roselli gave notice of reconsideration.
  • Mr. Deyst (angrily) moved for reconsideration.
  • The Moderator explained that if reconsideration were defeated, the article would be permanently closed.
  • Motion to reconsider defeated.
• Article 30 - Revolving Funds
  • A revolving fund is a way of sequestering income from the operating budgets. The designated income stream goes into the revolving fund instead of into the general fund and then certain expenses are paid out of them instead of being paid from the operating budgets. I believe state law requires them to be re-authorized every year. The numbers in the BoS report were a 31 December 2004 snapshot, though the report omitted that fact.
  • BoS recommended a vote to re-authorize the various revolving funds and to create a new revolving fund for Board of Health fees.
  • Mr. Hallee asked if creating a new fund was within the scope of the article (the Moderator said it was). He asked where the money is going now. Mr. Sullivan said that in the wake of the hepatitis scare the BoH wants to do additional inspections when it feels they are needed and to charge additional fees for that and use those to hire contractors to perform those additional inspections.
  • Mr. McKinney suggested the Uncle Sam fund be dissolved since it has had no activity for at least two years. Mr. Sullivan said the statue needs to be cleaned every three years and money would come from that. The Moderator asked if any Uncle Sam Committee members were in the hall and upon finding Ms. Weaver asked if she knew why there had been no activity. She said she did not know. Mr. McKinney said that if the fund had no reason to exist it should be eliminated and moved to amend the BoS recommendation to delete the re-authorization of the Uncle Sam fund.
  • Mr. Bayer asked why the Tuition Payment and All-Day Kindergarten fund balances were so high given how small the expenses were. Ms. Donovan said the funds would be zeroed by the end of the fiscal year. Mr. Bayer asked the same of the Building User Fees fund. Ms. Donovan said the fund was used to cover extra expenses such as a leaky oil tank.
  • Mr. Chaput said the US Fund should remain since the statute must be cleaned every three years.
  • Mr. Loreti asked why some of the ending balances were growing so much, such as the All-Day Kindergarten fund. Ms. Donovan said the Town was originally charging $500 and is now charging $1,500 and that while grants have been used as much as possible, the fund will be zeroed by the end of the fiscal year. Mr. Loreti asked why that matters since the fund would have similar receipts this year. Ms. Donovan said that salaries go up and that at the end of the fiscal year the fund would be zeroed.
  • Ms. Fiore said she supported leaving the US fund in and that Arlington has lost too much of its history. She said Town Meeting had refused to purchase the statue and that it was bought by a private citizen (who the Moderator told me later was a Mr. Frederick Hauk of Cincinnati).
  • Mr. Daly was opposed to the amendment and discussed why US is good for Arlington and why it would be wrong to abolish the Uncle Sam Committee (no typo).
  • Mr. McElhoe asked why funds that came in from after-school Building Use were used to fix a leaky oil take. Ms. Donovan said that the Hardy after-school program is privately run and the fees the Town charges the private group go into the fund and are used to help with school needs.
  • Ms. Harrington, noting that Ms. Donovan said the Tuition Payment and All-Day Kindergarten funds would be zeroed, asked how that was possible since their annual expense limits were set well below their current balances. She also asked why parents who pay the $1,500 do not get refunds when the schools get all-day kindergarten grants. Ms. Donovan said the schools are required to charge foreign students tuition and the costs of their education is paid through the fund and that the $20,000 cap is really $20,000 per student. As for All-Day Kindergarten, she said the fees and grants just cover the costs and that there are no refunds because the grants are anticipated in the budget and are not windfalls that could be returned to parents. Ms. Harrington asked why the Fox balance was negative. Mr. Hurd said the numbers are a 31 December snapshot and that the fund would be up to zero by the end of the fiscal year.
  • Mr. Sharpe asked how the Building Use fund could be zeroed this year given its $80,000 annual expense limit.
  • Mr. McKinney said he tried to join the US Committee as he wants to promote US but could find no one. He pointed out his amendment would only remove the revolving fund, not the committee and said that cleaning the statue is a DPW function, not a promotional one.
  • Mr. Jones asked that next year's report clearly date the balances.
  • Mr. Maher and Ms. Donovan corrected spending caps to $100,000 on the Tuition Payments fund, $550,000 on the All-Day Kindergarten fund, and $120,000 on the Building User Fees fund.
  • Mr. Hurd said the BoS wanted to keep the US fund.
  • Mr. Nauman moved the previous question on all matters under the article. Debate terminated.
  • McKinney amendment defeated.
  • BoS recommendation approved.
  • The amount of time we spent on the US fund thing was very frustrating. As was the number of people who (intentionally or not) conflated the US Fund with the US Committee (the latter, I note, echoes the former in not having much activity reported to Town Meeting). And for how many years have we had the bad cap numbers in the re-authorization vote?
• Article 31 - Revolving Fund/Parking: BoS recommended a vote of no action that was approved unanimously.
• Article 32 - Revolving Fund/ConComm: BoS recommended a vote of no action that was approved.
• Article 33 - CDBG EndorsementRevolving Fund/Parking: BoS recommended Town Meeting endorse its allocations. Approved unanimously.
• Article 34 - Grant Writing Authority: BoS recommended a vote to give the appropriate people/bodies the authority to apply for grants. Approved unanimously.
• Article 35 - Private Ways
  • BoS recommended a vote as set forth in its supplemental report to change the by-law by reducing the down payment by abutters to 1/3 of the cost but reducing the payback period from 20 to five years as well as tightening collection enforcement and charging interest on the unpaid amounts as well as to establish a committee to study the procedures and make recommendations.
  • FinComm recommended a vote to authorize up to $300,000 in bonding for the program.
  • Mr. Hurd said this would make it easier for private way abutters to take advantage of the by-law's provisions to have the Town involved in private way repair. He said the the current collection mechanism is essentially the honor system.
  • Mr. Burke told on how his street three abutters did not want to repair the street and so it ended with one half of the street fixed and one-half not fixed. He asked if this vote would affect that. Mr. Hurd said if 2/3rds of abutters wanted the repairs, the holdouts would be forced to go along (and be billed). He said the vote is by owners.
  • Ms. Chaput asked if the new committee would administer the program. Mr. Hurd said the BoS would do that. Mr. Chaput asked who set construction specifications. Mr. Sanchez said the law requires 12" of gravel and 5" of bitumen tar and that thanks to a vote last year, some drainage work can be done where needed.
  • Mr. Jamieson wanted to clarify that the 20-year repayment period was being reduced to five and urged the new committee to look into the safety of the more deteriorated private roads.
  • Mr. McElhoe asked what construction costs are as he is concerned with the repayment period reduction. Mr. Sanchez said it could be from $50 to $150 per foot depending on how the work ranged from repair to rebuild. Mr. McElhoe, who lives on a private way, said that would be too much to repay in five years and was against the motion.
  • Mr. Abbott asked if abutters can be force to fix a private way that is so bad that one cannot drive on it. The Moderator said they could not be.
  • Mr. Ruderman asked if the proposal would change the principle that abutters repay in full with no subsidies. Mr. Hurd said it would not.
  • Mr. McHugh asked why the proposal charged interest over and above the Town's project costs. Mr. Foskett said it was to cover bond issuance costs. Mr. Hurd said it helped cover administratrive costs.
  • Mr. Ledwig asked how costs would be allocated among abutters. Mr. Maher said it would be per owner and that nothing in the recommended vote would change how petitions are currently counted or costs are currently allocated.
  • Mr. Ellis was bothered by the administration fees and said residents were already paying taxes. He asked if unwilling abutters could be forced to go along to which the Moderator answered yes.
  • Mr. Bernardin moved the previous question. Debate terminated.
  • BoS recommendation approved.
  • FinComm recommendation approved unanimously.
• Article 36 - Committee/Town's Fiscal Organization
  • BoS recommended no action but commented they would like to see a similar committee be formed under the auspices of the Budget and Revenue Task Force.
  • Mr. Howard asked what the size of the committee would be, what its charge would be, and when it would be appointed. Mr. Greeley said it would be 15, charged with investigating the Town's fiscal organization and would be appointed sometime after Town Meeting finished.
  • Mr. Abbott moved to postpone to 23 May.
  • Mr. Daly said we should go ahead and vote.
  • Mr. Greeley said the BoS felt there was no point in postponing the article since the BRTF would not be meeting until after Town Meeting anyway.
  • Motion to postpone defeated.
  • BoS recommendation of no action approved.
• Article 37 - Committee/SPPDIC
  • BoS recommended a vote as set forth in its report to create a Symmes Project Post Development Committee.
  • Mr. O'Riordan moved an amendment to sunset the committee five years after the final occupancy permit is issued.
  • Mr. Hurd said the BoS supported the amendment.
  • Ms. Fiore rhetorically asked why the issues the committee is charged with examining were not examined long ago.
  • O'Riordan amendment approved.
  • BoS recommendation as amended approved.
• Article 38 - Fire Station Renovation Postponement
  • Mr. Lewiton moved to table saying the proponents were waiting for the Town to supply information they were planning to present.
  • Mr. Foskett said he saw no reason to debate under this article as there would be plenty of fire station debate under the capital budget.
  • Motion to table defeated.
  • BoS recommendation of no action approved.
• Article 39 - Fire Station Renovation Capital Plan: FinComm recommended a vote of no action that was approved.
• Article 40 - Trash Fee
  • BoS, FinComm recommended a vote of no action.
  • Mr. Jamieson moved to postpone to 13 June to preserve the option in case the override fails.
  • Mr. Foskett said the override will determine if people want their taxes raised and that this would confuse the issue.
  • Mr. Jamieson said he agreed, but wanted to keep the option available.
  • Mr. Abbott said it was "dumb" to act on this article without knowing the result of the override and supported postponement.
  • Ms. Wylie supported postponement.
  • Mr. Foskett, noting he was co-chair of the Yes campaign, said a trash fee is effectively a tax so that if the override fails, Town Meeting should also vote against any trash fee.
  • Jamieson motion to postpone defeated.
  • BoS recommendation of no action approved.
• Article 41 - Trash Collection Plan
  • BoS recommended a vote of no action.
  • Mr. Jamieson said he would like to offer a post-override vote substitute motion to authorize developing a plan and moved to postpone to 13 June.
  • Mr. Lavalle said it was an attempt to hold the threat of tax fee over voters and that he would vote against the override just for that.
  • Ms. LaCourt said the BoS is committed to five years without an override and so is morally committed to no backdoor tax increases. She said the override was the overriding concern.
  • Jamieson motion to postpone defeated.
  • BoS recommendation of no action approved.
• Article 43 - Minuteman Appropriation
  • FinComm recommended an appropriation as set forth in its report.
  • Mr. Foskett moved to postpone to 23 May so the Minuteman superintendant could be present.
  • Mr. Jamieson asked if there was any point to waiting as our vote would likely make no difference.
  • Mr. DeCoursey said 11 of the 16 member towns had approved the budget making it essentially approved, but that the superintendant is new and would like the chance to talk to Town Meeting.
  • Foskett motion to postpone approved.
• Article 44 - Appropriation/Town Celebrations: FinComm recommended a vote as set forth in its report which was approved unanimously.
• Article 45 - Appropriation/Committees and Commissions: FinComm recommended a vote as set forth in its report which was approved.
• Article 46 - Appropriation/Misc: FinComm recommended a vote as set forth in its report which was approved unanimously.
• Article 47 - Appropriation/Misc: FinComm recommended a vote as set forth in its report which was approved unanimously.
• Article 48 - Rescind Borrowing Authority: FinComm recommended a vote of no action which was approved unanimously.
• Article 49 - Appropriation/Sewer Financing
  • FinComm recommended a vote as set forth in its report.
  • Mr. Foskett said this was to allow the Town to get an interest-free loan from the MWRA.
  • FinComm recommendation approved unanimously.
• Article 50 - Appropriation/Water Mains
  • FinComm recommended a vote as set forth in its report.
  • Mr. Foskett said this was to allow the Town to get an interest-free loan from the MWRA.
  • Ms. Fiore asked if developers have to pay a share of water main re-construction. Mr. Sanchez said the article was about existing lines and that developers pay if their development would have a detrimental effect.
  • FinComm recommendation approved unanimously.
• Ms. Fiore moved reconsideration of article 49 because she said the Moderator did not acknowledge her.
• Ms. Fiore asked the same question about article 49. Mr. Sanchez said that if a new development would have a detrimental effect, developers would have to pay for sewerage improvements. He said they have to improve flow by three times the amount of flow they expect to add.
• Fiore motion to reconsider defeated.
• Article 51 - Appropriation/Pension Adjustments: FinComm recommended a vote as set forth in its report which was approved unanimously.
• Article 52 - Position Reclassification
  • FinComm recommended a vote as set forth in its report.
  • Mr. Foskett corrected the report by deleting section A(3) of the recommended vote (eliminating reclassifying the superintendant of highway and sewer to assistant DPW director).
  • Mr. Abbott asked if the changes were in the budget and if making these changes obliged us to fund them.
  • Ms. Malloy said that additions were only changes to the plan and did not make salary changes to existing positions but that reclassifications would and that was why the article also called for a $5,764 appropriation.
  • FinComm recommendation approved unanimously.
• Article 53 - Establish 200th Anniversary Commmittee: FinComm recommended a vote as set forth in its report which was approved unanimously.
• Article 54 - Appropriation/Peirce School
  • FinComm recommended a vote as set forth in its report.
  • Mr. Foskett corrected the vote to be a total of $70,000 and to take $46,000 from the Elementary School Interest account instead of $43,000 from the Dallin account.
  • Mr. Chaput asked if some of the money was coming from the Brackett account. The Moderator said it would. Mr. Chaput said some landscaping work in the corner of the playground area is not done and asked if this meant it would never be done. Mr. Shea said that all Brackett work is done. Mr. Chaput asked when the landscaping would be done. Mr. Shea said it was never part of the project. Mr. Chaput asked if the account would be zeroed. Mr. Shea said it would be. Mr. Chaput said he was not happy.
  • Mr. Trembly asked what the $70,000 was for. Mr. Shea said it was for soils testing at the beginning of the project as the Town had mislaid the invoice and only just found it and for architectural services related to HVAC and accessibility issues.
  • Ms. Harrington suggested taking the entire $70,000 from the Elementary School Interest account and leaving the Brackett account alone. Mr. Shea said the PTBC felt the Brackett project was over and it was time for the BoS to make decisions on what would should be done there.
  • FinComm recommendation approved.
• Motion to adjourn approved.
• Adjourned at 23:04 until 23 May at 20:00.