Saturday’s Annual Town Meeting-at-a-glance (Updated)

The 2021 Annual Town Meeting finally opens tomorrow morning. Here are important reminders and links to details.

Logistics

The meeting is Saturday, May 22 at 10:00 am on the athletic fields by Neary School (53 Parkerville Road).

It could be a long day, so don’t forget to put on some sunblock, or bring an umbrella. (Could also come in handy if it rains. As of this afternoon, the National Weather Service gives that a 30% chance.) If you do use an umbrella with your chair, you’ll need to sit to the side of the assembly.

The meeting schedule includes a lunch break from 1:00 to 2:00 pm and is scheduled to end at 5:00 pm. (The actual timing of Town Meeting breaks tends to be impacted by the timing of presentations and debates on the floor.) If it needs to be continued, it will resume at 1:00 pm on Sunday.

There will be no food sold on site, but you can bring your own. (If you do leave, bracelets you receive when you check in will make returning easier.)

Anyone who registered to vote in Southborough by April 21st can attend.

You can find the Town’s information on check in logistics and safety measures here.

Update on Covid-19 numbers in Southborough

Those of you nervous about attending might want more reassurance that Southborough’s numbers are still low. As of the May 17th update, only 5 residents were isolated as active cases. Last night, the state lowered the Town’s status to grey (the lowest risk). You can read more about that here.

Blog Coverage

You can find past coverage of preparations and discussions about this year’s meeting, as well as future recaps, here.

Tomorrow, I hope to do some live tweeting from the meeting under #sboroatm21. (How successful I am may depend on the cellular coverage and sunglare.)

Up for Vote

Click here for the full Warrant.

The meeting will begin with any reports from committees or departments. (I believe they will be trying to keep that brief this year.)

A number of the first 17 Articles are periodic or annual ones to handle administrative/financial issues. Many of these may be bundled into a Consent Agenda that the Moderator asks voters to pass. (No handout has been posted to notify voters which ones will be suggested this year.)

Voters will also asked to approve changes to the Personnel Salary Administration Plan (Here are the documents: proposed revisions, redlined version)

Article 7 focuses on the Operating Budgets and Articles 10 & 11 are for Capital Expenses. You can read about the financial impact of those and the Town’s and Advisory’s related documents and reports here.

Below are other Articles up for consideration this year. I wasn’t able to get to all of them this year, but I inserted links for those I have covered: 

18. Appropriation from CPA Funds – Kallander Field Construction
19. Appropriation from CPA Funds – St. Mark’s Church Bell Tower Renovation
20. Appropriation from CPA Funds – Town House Historical Preservation
21. Appropriation from CPA Funds – Flagg School Assessment
22. Appropriation from CPA Funds – Trail on DCR Land
24. Adopt New Income Limits/Interest Rates for Clause 41A Tax Deferrals
25. Amend Town Code – Increase Qualification Period for Appointments
26. Amend Town Code – Availability of Annual Report and Warrant
27. Adopt MGL for Saturday Office Hours
28. Adopt MGL to Reduce Speed Limit in Thickly Settled Areas
29. Adopt MGL to Designate Safety Zones
30. Adopt MGL to Implement Local Meals Tax
31. Amend Town Code – Southborough Public Accessibility Committee
32. Amend Town Code – Advisory Committee
33. Amend Town Code – Capital Planning Committee
34. Amend Town Code – Zoning – Miscellaneous Provisions
35. Amend Town Code – Zoning – Outdoor Illumination
36. Amend Town Code – Zoning – Site Plan Review
37. Citizen Petition – Amend Town Code: Noise Bylaw
39. Citizen Petition – Flagg Road Truck Exclusion

Proponents of Articles 23 and 38 will ask voters to indefinitely postpone them.

Updated (5/22/21 9:04 am): Including the SAP links.