Norwood Town Meeting roundup

Norwood Town Meeting met last Monday, May 11, and concluded its business on Thursday, May 14.

While The Record has detailed reporting on the more controversial items at Town Meeting, here are the rest of them. Please note, the voting notation will be Vote yes number – vote no number – abstentions, for example: 50-30-2.

Starting in the order the votes were taken, the list will start with the Special Town Meeting (STM).

STM Article 1 dealt with internal transfers for about $895,000 for additional snow and ice and elecvator repair at the Town Hall. The vote was 166-13-3.

STM Article 2 dealt three school positions needed from free cash for $350,000 and was approved 151-31-2.

STM Article 4 was for unpaid bills, and motioned to transfer $5,500.69 for the purpose. It passed 169-14-1.

Then started the Annual Town Meeting (ATM).

ATM Articles 1-3 were proposed for the consent agenda and passed.

Article 5 dealt with a transfer from the Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund to the General Fund for indirect costs with the fund to the tune of $832,000. It passed 155-18-0.

ATM Article 6 was the budget, and had several internal motions. Article 6 Motion 1 was the General Government Budget of $7.3 million and passed 148-26-1. Motion 2 was the Public Safety Budget at $23.5 million and passed 159-8-1. Motion 3 was the infrastructure budget at $10.2 million and passed 142-14-3. Motion 4 was Health & Human Services at $1.7 million and passed 153-6-0. Motion 5 was Culture and Recreation at $3.1 million and passed 147-11-0. Motion 6 was Shared Facilities Costs at $9.7 million and passed 151-7-0. Motion 7 was the shared costs budget at $48.9 million and passed 150-8-0. Motion 8 was Education at $67.2 million and passed 151-23-2. Motion 9 was the water and sewer budget at $24.2 million and passed 154-19-1.

ATM Article 9 dealt with the actual costs of the election for the June 15 Override Ballot vote. It came out to $30,000, and the vote came out to 141-31-3.

Article 10 was future Community Preservation Committee (CPC) spending at $1.07 million. It passed 150-17-2.

Article 11 was CPC administration and operating costs for $53,668 and passed 142-18-3.

Article 12 was the various Community Preservation Act (CPA) fund project funding requests and had several motions. Motion 1 was $14,000 for the shared housing services program that helps the Town keep track of its affordable housing numbers so that it’s not open to 40B development (Mass Gen Law 40B requires 10 percent of a town’s housing stock or 1.5 percent of its land be dedicated to affordable housing or a developer can ignore most local zoning laws when putting in affordable housing). It passed 137-27-3.

Motion 2 was an historical asset inventory for $24,270 and passed 135-17-3. Motion 3 was restoring and preserving the annual Town reports for $30,000. It passed 141-16-4.

Motion 4 was rehabilitating the Town Hall Cannon, and was a bit more controversial. Opponents to the $114,000 rehab project thought the cannon just needed a lick of paint, but, apparently, the stone slab below the cannon needs extensive work, as well as the wheels, which are a metal and wood combination that needs special treatment. The measure passed, but by a somewhat closer-than-average margin at 107-50-4.

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Motion 5 was a transfer of $25,000 to the Conservation Land Fund, to help with preliminary costs of purchasing land for conservation by the Town. It passed 142-13-1. Motion 6 was $100,000 for improvements to the Father Mac Playground and passed 144-14-1.

The other Controversial CPA project was the Shattuck Park Dry Stone Wall Feasibility Study and Design, for $32,280. Opponents have stated they believe this is just laying stones down and doesn’t need the study, nor the predicted $100,000-plus price tag to actually do the work. It passed, just barely, at 81-75-5.

Motion 8 was a $49,450 study to prioritize and assess the school’s playgrounds, as it looked like schools may have gone to the CPC and competed for funds there, instead of going through a more regulated and fair process. The motion passed 140-19-1.

Motion 9 was for dugout shades, structures and scoreboards in the schools’ softball fields for $147,550 and passed 121-31-4.

Articles 13-18 dealt with citizen petitions around zoning, planning and parking requirements. Article 13 was indefinitely postponed at 131-21-0. Article 14 was moot and asked that funds move back to the general fund improperly. Article 15 asked to remove parking waivers from the Zoning Bylaw and was sent for study by the Planning Board by a vote of 108-29-8. Article 16 was indefinitely postponed by a vote of 121-25-1 and asked to tax residential properties of four units or more as commercial entities.

Article 17 dealt with the adoption of a residential tax exemption, and was referred for study to the Planning Board. A residential tax exemption allows residents who have lived in the Town for a certain amount of time to be qualified to reduce their property taxes. The measure passed 98-46-2. Article 18 requested redefining of parking spaces, tandem parking spaces, and lift spaces in the Zoning Bylaw. It passed 120-24-2.

Articles 19-21 all passed by voice vote. Article 19 wanted to amend the MBTA Communities Overlay District and waivers and was referred to the Planning Board. Article 20 also restricted tandem and stacked parking and was referred to the Planning Board. Article 21 dealt with clarification of standards for repetitive applications and was indefinitely postponed.