by Frank Schroth
The Last meeting of the Board of Selectmen was brief but interesting. Topics discussed included the pending article for Town Meeting concerning the Community Preservation Act, the committee to review Town Government, and signage approvals.
The Selectmen had submitted an article regarding the Community Preservation Act for consideration at Special Town Meeting. Selectman Hurley is the primary proponent of the article. The Warrant Committee discussed the article and referred it back to the Selectmen. The Selectmen upon further review decided to defer the article to the annual Town Meeting in May. Hurley acknowledged that it is a somewhat “controversial article” in that it is essentially a tax. Technically it is referred to as a surcharge that is applied to a homeowners property tax bill. Hurley felt that there was insufficient time to educate the public on the merit’s of adopting the act and addressing the Warrant Committee’s concerns. In short, ~42% of Massachusetts communities (148) have adopted the act which earmarks funds to be used for specific purposes: historic preservation, open space, and community housing. South shore communities have a much higher percentage of adoption as can be seem from this map. Hurley is suggesting a surcharge of 1.5%. Towns have flexibility in setting the rate.
During the discussion Selectman Sweeney stated his opposition to the article. Hurley had discussed renovation and upgrading of the fire stations as one application of the funds. Sweeney supported that but did not feel he could support any new tax. He also said that he favored decision-making over deferring but understood the reasons and the selectmen were unanimous in their decision to push the article back from Special Town Meeting at end of January/early February to Annual Town Meeting in May.
Note: We did an interview with Selectman Hurley in which he discusses the Community Preservation Act. It will air on MATV shortly.
The selectmen also granted signage requests to Artspace Milton, the Plate and B Boutique.
A post with an update on the Government Review committee will be available shortly.