Special Town Meeting – September 30

Above: In fall 2016, the Special Town Meeting Warrant prompted a big turnout. Will voters show as much interest in the Articles scheduled for next month? (image cropped from SAM video)

In less than two months, Southborough will hold a Special Town Meeting (STM). The big Article that is expected to draw interested voters is the bylaw for MBTA Zoning overlays. But there are other topics that may draw voters or spark debates. 

Here is a quick overview.

The meeting will be held at Trottier Middle School on Monday, September 30th at 7:00 pm. According to an announcement by the Town:

All Citizen’s Petitions will be due to the Select Board Office, 17 Common Street, by Friday, August 30th at 12:00 PM.

Two weeks ago, the Select Board discussed a draft Warrant with 16 potential Articles. So far, all of them are Town sponsored.

At this point, the board has them listed in the following order. (Since the Article order may soon shift and some may be postponed, I’m not referring to them by numbers at this stage.):

• Amend Fiscal Year 2025 budget*
• Amend Personal Salary Administration Plan*
• Appropriation for Breakneck Hill Farm Dump Remediation  
• Appropriation for cleanup of former Atwood water tank site  
• Appropriation for implementation of Public Safety Staffing study   
• Appropriation for Economic Development Coordinator position  
• Amend Town Code- PILOT Committee*
• Amend Town Code – Solid Waste Disposal Committee*
• Amend Town Code – Consumer Advisory Commission*
• Zoning – MBTA Communities Overlay District
• Town Code – New Affordable Housing Committee   
• Increase CPA (Community Preservation Act) Surcharge   
• Transfer of CPA Affordable Housing funds to Affordable Housing Trust
• Amend Town Code – Stormwater Enterprise Fund   
• Amend Town Code – Annual Town Meeting date  
• Feedback on Select Board plan for Public Safety Dispatch Services

For STMs, Citizen Petition Articles require 100 signatures to get on the Warrant. (For Annual Town Meeting, only 10 signatures are needed.) So the STMs usually only have Citizen Articles when something feels urgent to petitioners. (Sometimes, it is a protest response to a controversy.) Still, it is a low enough threshold that a motivated voter can quickly get that done.

As for the Articles above. . .

I’ve already written extensively about the MBTA zoning Article. (And if there are significant updates, I’ll write about those, too.)

Between now and September 30th, I promise to cover the substance of the other ones, if it looks like they will be on the official Warrant. (You can look for those posts in the future here.) That will include updates on the Public Safety staffing and Dispatch situation.

For now, I’m just giving an overview of the discussion on the order (mainly whether the MBTA Zoning Article is at the top of the meeting or deeper in the Warrant) and what might not make it to this meeting.

Warrant Order

At their July 16th meeting, the board discussed the order Town Administrator Mark Purple had selected for the Articles. After some debate, they decided to leave it as is, but revisit it at their August 6th meeting.

Chair Kathy Cook reminded the board that they had committed to the Planning Board to have the MBTA zoning be the first “substantive” Article. But she followed that “substantive” is in the eye of the beholder. She opined that some of the Articles earlier on the Warrant were ones that shouldn’t prompt any/much discussion. But she suggested moving some of the early Articles to later on the Warrant.

Vice Chair Andrew Dennington suggested having it deeper into the meeting (at least midway) would help improve numbers in the hall for other decisions to be voted on that night. 

Member Sam Stivers said he was “torn”, but indicated he leaned towards Dennington’s view. Later, he said he was unsure the zoning Article would prompt a long discussion since the public knows that the Town has to pass something.

Member Marguerite Landry opined that Articles on the plan for Dispatch Services and spending to clean up the site of the former Atwood Water Tank will prompt voter interest and discussions. She wondered if the zoning Article should be early in the meeting, while voters are still “fresh”. She noted the importance of getting it one passed since the Town has to meet the state deadline by the end of this year.

Cook had noted earlier that the additional funding request for cleaning up the Breakneck Hill Farm Dump also needs to be passed, since the work is required by the state under the Order of Conditions from MassDEP. She seemed to feel it should come before the zoning Article for that reason. And she believed it will prompt discussion from voters demanding to know what on earth is going on with the need for more money.

In public comment, Kristen LaVault recommended the board survey the public through Facebook to find out what residents want to prioritize on the Warrant. Cook disagreed, opining that they’d get 100 different responses. She indicated the effort would be a waste of time. LaVault said she was willing to head the effort. The board responded that the order was their decision to make.

Articles that may be pushed off

Cook was uncertain the Articles to Increase the CPA Charge and the adoption of a Stormwater Enterprise Fund will be ready in time. (Although not discussed by the board, if the increasing the charge on top of property taxes from 1% to 3% is on the Warrant, I predict that would prompt a robust debate.)

Member Al Hamilton reminded that the Article to transfer CPA Affordable Housing funds would first require a vote of approval from the Community Preservation Committee “and they they’ve indicated that they’re not terribly enthusiastic about that”.

*Chair Kathy Cook suggested that these 5 Articles would be good candidates for the Moderator’s Consent Agenda. Other members appeared to agree. The decision would be made by the Moderator, Paul Cimino.