Residents vote on an article at last year’s Town Meeting.
At Saturday’s Town Meeting, voters will be asked to consider and approve 45 articles. Here’s a synopsis of each, including the fiscal impact of each request. Copies of the Town Meeting booklet are available at the town website, the library, and Town Hall, and will be available at Town Meeting The booklet contains the exact wording of all 45 warrant articles, their cost, and recommendations of the Finance Committee.
Readers should be aware, however, that the exact wording of several articles won’t be known until their advocates read their motions for adoption on the floor of Town Meeting. And these motions can themselves be amended. Citizens who arrive at Town Meeting before 9 a.m. are likely to see assorted boards holding meetings in the Bromfield gym attempting to craft a last-minute motion or amendment.
Extended debate over Articles 10 and 42 is likely, but at Annual Town Meeting, there are often surprises.
Town Meeting will be gaveled to order at 9 a.m. If this year’s meeting is like many previous meetings, 93 percent of the spending could be finished in the first hour, when the Omnibus Budget (Article 5) is voted.
Article 1: Annual Reports
A housekeeping formality at every Town Meeting, this article asks voters to hear reports from the Board of Selectmen, School Committee, and any other boards with prepared reports to present. Written reports for virtually every town committee and department appear in either the 2013 Town Meeting booklet, which includes reports from the Finance and Capital Committees, or the 2012 Annual Town Report, which includes everyone else. Both documents will be available at Town Meeting.
Article 2: Pay Bills of Prior Fiscal Years
Amount: $14,581
This article, inserted by the Board of Health (BOH) and the Department of Public Works (DPW), asks the town to pay two outstanding bills from the prior fiscal year: a bill for $265 incurred by the Board of Health and somehow lost, and a bill for $14,316 owed by the DPW for tree clearing services following a prior winter storm. The total is $14,581, and the Finance Committee recommends payment, using Free Cash remaining from fiscal 2012.
Article 3: Transfer of Fiscal Year 2013 Debt Interest to Principal
Amount: $60,000
Because the town saved money by refinancing a chunk of its excluded debt last year, the Finance Committee wants to use $60,000 of the amount budgeted to pay interest on that debt to pay down the principal instead. Excluded debt is borrowing outside the limits set by Proposition 2 ½ and is commonly used to pay for short-term capital expenses, such as the purchase of a fire truck or repair of a building. This article was inserted at the request of the Finance Committee.
Article 4: Certified Free Cash
Amount: $109,423
The Finance Committee is asking that Free Cash, unspent money from the fiscal 2012 budget, be moved in its entirety to the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund, where it can be used to pay for various capital expenses. Last year the amount totaled $436,754; this year, Free Cash transfer to capital totals $109,423, after Articles 2 and 11 are funded.
Article 5: Omnibus Budget
Amount: $21,279,523
When it comes to your tax dollars, this is the big one. In six pages, the Omnibus Budget describes in detail how your taxes were spent in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, and how they will be spent in the coming 2014 fiscal year. Schools, including teacher benefits, account for the largest amount of spending, with town government services a distant second. The total budget will increase roughly 2.7 percent in 2014. The budget has been thoroughly vetted by the Finance, Capital, and other committees, which asked all committees and departments to submit budgets that would allow them to maintain “level services” in the coming year. The budget also includes some “wish list” items. The Finance Committee, which has been working on the budget since October, naturally recommends it. The moderator typically walks through the budget two pages at a time to allow an opportunity for questions from the floor.
Article 6: Reserve Fund—Fiscal Year 2014
Amount: $400,000
Not all of the money spent by the town is included in the Omnibus Budget. There are always unforeseen expenses. The Finance Committee wants to set aside $400,000 for the town’s Reserve Fund this year: $200,000 for traditional emergencies, such as extra plowing and treatment of roads in an especially snowy winter, and $200,000 to cover potential unforeseen Special Education costs.
This money is under the control of the Finance Committee and saves the town from having to hold numerous Special Town Meetings to authorize the expenditures of small sums. A table in the Town Meeting booklet shows how these funds were used during the 2012 fiscal year, with $163,797 unspent and returned to the General Fund.
Article 7: Fire Department Fire Brackets
Amount: $5,000
This article was inserted by the Fire Department, which wants to purchase and install fire brackets on its trucks to allow faster access to its equipment during an emergency. The Finance Committee recommends the expenditure.
Article 8: Ballot Box replacement
Amount: $8,000
The town’s one ballot box is no longer supported, and by state law must be replaced. The expenditure was requested by Town Clerk Janet Vellante and has the support of the Finance Committee. See story, ATM Article 8: Town Clerk asks for ballot box replacement.
Article 9: The Bromfield School Curriculum Materials
Amount: $21,280
Although it had the support of the Finance Committee, the School Committee has said it will withdraw this article, as it has other funds available for this expenditure.
Article 10: Town Planner
Amount: $60,000
The Planning Board is asking the town to establish a new permanent town planner position to provide its members and those of other boards with professional support, with a focus in the first year on updating Harvard’s Master Plan. The planner would also support the Conservation Commission, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Economic Development Committee, and the Devens Economic Analysis Team, taking direction from the Planning Board and under the day-to-day supervision of the Town Administrator. The position would be part-time in fiscal 2014 but would at some point become a full-time position. The expected $60,000 first-year salary (including benefits, if any) would be funded with $40,000 raised and appropriated and $20,000 from the $100,000 Town Meeting appropriated last year to pay for updating of the Master Plan.
At press time, the exact form of this article was still up in the air. Those favoring the measure may propose that the position be redefined as “temp-to-perm,” in which the planner would be hired as a contract consultant the first year, but made a permanent employee later if performance was satisfactory.
The article has the support of the Planning Board and the Finance Committee. The Conservation Commission and ZBA have said they do not need a professional planner. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-2 Tuesday night not to recommend the article as written, but they unanimously agreed to consider an alternative version of the article from Planning Board the morning of Town Meeting.
Meeting attendees should note that an identically worded article appears at the end of this warrant as Article 43, where it was placed as a citizen petition. If Article 10 is defeated, it is not known how its supporters or the moderator will handle Article 43, which could, in theory, receive a second vote at a time of day when attendance has dwindled to a handful of citizens. How will the moderator handle it? Does it give proponents a “second bite at the apple,” as some have said?
Capital Spending
Articles 11 through 21 are this year’s capital spending articles. Most of the funding is from the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund, with some coming from fiscal 2012 Free Cash and some from borrowing, with debt service (interest and principal) from the Capital Stablization and Investment Fund. According to the Town Meeting booklet, the Dec. 31, 2012 balance in the Stabilization Fund is $1,249,980, and the Capital Stabilization balance is $790,887, a total of $2,040,867, or approximately 9 percent of total budgeted spending.
Article 11: Capital Planning and Investment Fund Debt Payment
Amount: $107,563
This article is necessary to fund the cost of servicing the debt of the Capital Planning and Investment Committee (CPIC). The money will come from the town’s 2012 Free Cash and is recommended by the Finance Committee. The article was added to the warrant at the request of CPIC.
Article 12: Fire Pond Evaluationand Engineering
Amount: $52,000
The Fire Department has asked for money to evaluate all the fire ponds owned by the town to recommend maintenance and repairs that may be necessary. CPIC has agreed to fund the request using its Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund. The Finance Committee also recommends the expenditure.
Article 13: Fire Department Replace Rescue Equipment
Amount: $40,000
The money in this article would be used to replace aging rescue equipment. Although the total cost is estimated to be $60,000, one-third of that amount will be paid for with a grant obtained by Fire Chief Rick Sicard. The rest will come from the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund. The Finance Committee recommends the expenditure.
Article 14: HCTV/The Bromfield School ADA Access
Amount: $39,000
The School Committee and the Cable Committee have requested these funds to make the newly constructed Harvard Cable Television studio accessible per requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Funding is from the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund and is recommended by the Finance Committee and the Capital Committee.
Article 15: The Bromfield School Pond Road Parking Lot
Amount: $157,000
Requested by the School Committee and recommended by the Finance Committee and the Capital Committee, funds to make repairs to the Bromfield School parking lot off Pond Road will be raised by borrowing, with interest and principal to be paid from the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund. See story, ATM Article 15: At last, a plan for Bromfield’s Pond Road parking.
Article 16: The Bromfield School Science Lab Renovation Design
Amount: $19,000
Requested by the School Committee, funds from the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund will be used to design and renovate science labs at Bromfield. Recommended by the Finance Committee.
Article 17: The Bromfield School Chemical Storage Ventilation
Amount: $10,000
Requested by the School Committee, funds from the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund will provide required chemical storage ventilation at Bromfield. Recommended by the Finance Committee.
Marie Fagan listens as Town Administrator Tim Bragan addresses last year’s Town Meeting.
Article 18: Hildreth Elementary School Storage Sheds
Amount: $10,000
Requested by the School Committee, funds from the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund will be used to remove a storage trailer and build new storage sheds at Hildreth Elementary School. The School Committee is supplementing this amount with $8,000 available from other sources. Recommended by the Finance Committee.
Article 19: Hildreth Elementary School Safety Gates
Amount: $14,000
Requested by the School Committee, funds from the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund will be used to install safety gates at both ends of the school’s emergency driveway. Recommended by the Finance Committee.
Article 20: The Bromfield House Structural Assessment and Repairs
Amount: $75,000
Requested by the School Committee, funds from the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund will be used to make a structural assessment and several necessary repair projects at Bromfield House. Recommended by the Finance Committtee.
Article 21: Library Wiring for Emergency Generator
Amount: $21,000
Requested by the Library Trustees, funds from the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund, together with $16,000 from other Library Trustee sources, will be used to install wiring at the library to be able to connect an emergency generator when necessary. Recommended by the Finance Committee.
Article 22: Sewer Connection for Hildreth House and Central Fire Station
Amount: $175,000
Inserted by the Board of Selectmen, and recommended by the Finance Committee, funds will be borrowed to provide for connections to the town sewer system from the Center Fire Station and Hildreth House. This is in addition to $125,000 voted in 2011 for connecting five town buildings, which was insufficient because of ledge encountered.
Article 23: Community Preservation Committee Report
Inserted by the Community Preservation Committee, this article enables the committee to make its report to the meeting. The following five articles are the committee’s recommended allocations of CPC funds.
Article 24: Town Clerk Preservation of Historic Town Documents
Amount: $16,000
Requested by the Town Clerk, this article would transfer funds from Community Preservation Fund historic reserves for restoration and preservation of historic town documents.
Article 25: Harvard Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Amount: $100,000
Requested by the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, this article transfers $25,000 from fiscal 2014 Community Preservation revenues and $75,000 from Community Preservation Fund unspecified reserves, to be added to the Harvard Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Separately, the trust has announced plans for affordable housing development projects, which will be discussed in more detail shortly.
Article 26: Conservation Fund
Amount: $200,000
Requested by the Conservation Commission, this article transfers $100,000 from fiscal 2014 Community Preservation revenues and $100,000 from Community Preservation Fund unspecified reserves to be placed in the Conservation Fund, to be expended by the Conservation Commission for the purpose of purchasing land and/or interests in land for open space purposes.
Article 27: Parks & Recreation Restore Bromfield Stone Wall
Amount: $55,000
Requested by the Parks and Recreation Commission, this article transfers $25,000 from fiscal 2014 Community Preservation revenues and $30,000 from Community Preservation Fund historic reserves, to be used for the restoration of the Bromfield stone wall.
Article 28: Community Preservation Committee—Administrative Expenses
Amount: $2,500
This article transfers $2,500 from fiscal 2014 Community Preservation revenues for administrative expenses, including Community Preservation Coalition dues and necessary legal fees.
Article 29: Annual Authorization of Revolving Funds
This article re-authorizes revolving funds for COA (maximum $35,000), Fourth of July Committee ($25,000), Harvard Ambulance Service ($100,000), Fire Department’s S.A.F.E. Program ($15,000). No funds are appropriated by this article, but necessary authorization is provided for accounts to collect and disburse funds.
Article 30: Extend Sunset Date
This article extends the sunset date for Article 17, Municipal Buildings (Schematic Design), of the Warrant for the April 2, 2011 Annual Town Meeting, by extending the date by which funds must be expended or returned from June 30, 2013, to June 30, 2015.
Article 31: Home Rule Legislation Allow Detail Work for Police Until Age 70
This article, if passed and approved by the state legislature, would allow Harvard police officers with 20 years of continuous, full-time service who terminated service in good standing to be appointed special police officers so they may work police details until age 70.
Article 32: Accept MGL Chapter 140, § 139, Paragraph (c)- Over 70 Free Dog License
This article would allow the town to accept MGL provisions that no licensing fee shall be charged for dogs owned by persons aged 70 or over, and for all service animals as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Article 33: Bylaw Amendment to Restrict Use of Bare Hill Pond
See story, ATM Article 33: Parks and Rec seeks bylaw to better manage beach access
Article 34: Board of Health – Community Septic Management Program Authorization
See story, ATM Article 34: Health Board seeks help for septice repairs
Article 35: Home Rule Petition – Elderly and Disabled Taxation Aid Committee Composition
This article authorizes the Board of Selectmen to petition the legislature to allow Selectmen to appoint an Elderly and Disabled Taxation Aid Committee consisting of the Council on Aging Director, who may or may not be a resident of the town, the Town Treasurer, and three residents. This change will ensure that the COA Director is a member.
Article 36: Accept M.G.L. Chapter 32b, Section 20 – OPEB Trust Fund Establishment
This article is the first of two that will provide Harvard a means to begin saving for the health insurance and other benefits it owes its current and future retirees. The latest (and just completed) actuarial report for the town estimates that amount to be $23 million. The town pays roughly $550,000 each year out of its operating budget for its current retirees, but that amount is expected to rise to more than $1 million over the next seven years. Money from the trust fund can be used to make up the difference between what the town can afford to pay out of the taxes it collects and the actual amount due in any given year.
By adopting language in the Massachusetts General Laws, Article 36 establishes an irrevocable trust for the town, essentially an account the town can use to set aside money to pay for future benefits. An OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits) study group headed by Town Administrator Tim Bragan has recommended that the money in this account be invested in a state-run fund.
The article was added to the warrant by the Selectmen, but at the time it was printed the Finance Committee had not yet recommended it. Its recommendation of Article 37, however, is an implicit endorsement of the new fund and would provide money for an initial deposit.
Finance Committee members George McKenna (left) and Bob Thurston at last year’s Town Meeting.
Article 37: OPEB Trust Fund Funding
Amount: $250,000
This article proposes to raise and appropriate $100,000 and transfer an additional $150,000 from the town’s Stabilization Fund to fund the new OPEB trust fund. This is the minimum amount required to invest in the state fund that the OPEB study group has proposed. Future deposits will be up to the town, says Finance Director Lorraine Leonard. In good years, the town may wish to add more; in bad ones, the town can skip a deposit entirely.
Article 38: Home Rule Petition – Liquor Licenses
Inserted by the Board of Selectmen, at the urging of Chairwoman Lucy Wallace, this article will make it possible for “package stores” in town to sell any alcoholic beverage. The language that will be placed before Town Meeting in a motion Saturday would also make it possible for the Selectmen to issue so-called “pouring licenses,” which could lead to the establishment of pubs and taverns in town, and make Harvard more attractive to a potential restaurant. See story “Article 38” on page 5.
Article 39: Home Rule Petition Prevailing Wages on Local Projects
By passing this article, voters will authorize the Selectmen to submit a Home Rule Petition to the state legislature that would exempt the town from having to pay the “prevailing wage” on projects whose cost is less than $50,000 or for projects on public properties, such as the old library, that are funded by private donations. The petition has to be passed by both houses of the legislature, which takes time. See story “Article 39” on page 18.
Article 40: Eminent Domain Taking of Land for Conservation or General Purposes
Four properties that have been given to the town, or proposed as gifts, may be taken, for conservation or general municipal purposes, by eminent domain on a nonadversarial basis solely for the purpose of confirming the town’s title to the parcels.
Article 41: Stabilization Fund for Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School District
Inserted by the Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School District, this article asks voters to approve establishment of a Stabilization Fund for the district, of which Harvard is a member. The Finance Committee has not yet made a recommendation and will consider its recommendation Saturday morning before Town Meeting.
Article 42: Citizen Petition Zoning Bylaw Amendment
The authors of this petition want to exempt all municipal buildings that lie within 2500 feet of the flashing red traffic light in town center from the town’s protective bylaw. The purpose of the change is to allow plans for the renovation of Town Hall to proceed. Implementation of those plans would violate two zoning restrictions—one for setback and one for height—and last month the ZBA refused to grant the town relief on both in a vote that was unanimous.
Both the Planning Board and the Selectmen have voted not to recommend the article as written. But as this paper was being prepared, discussions were being held among the authors of the petition, the Planning Board, and Selectmen to craft a narrower version of the article that would restrict the bylaw change to Town Hall only. A narrower bylaw would receive more support from key town boards, but signers of the petition have argued that given the amount of maintenance and repair that will be needed for other town buildings in the near future, all municipal buildings should be exempted.
Unfortunately, as with Article 10, voters won’t know the final language of Article 42 until the petitioners read their motion on the floor of Town Meeting Saturday. See story “Article 42” on page 1.
Article 43: Citizen Petition – Town Planner
This article, inserted by a citizen petition, is identical to Article 10. If the earlier article is approved or rejected by Town Meeting, how will the authors of this petition respond? Will they come forward with a new motion? Will the moderator allow the article to be reconsidered? Stick around to find out.
Article 44: Acceptance of Gifts of Property
This vote is required to accept land donated to the town to be used as conservation land. It is inserted annually by the Board of Selectmen and has the support of the Finance Committee. At the time the paper went to press, no such gifts were anticipated.
Article 45: Acceptance of Highway Funds
Inserted by the Board of Selectmen, this vote is required by state law to accept so-called Chapter 90 funds for the repair and improvement of town roads. It has the support of the Finance Committee, which says it is “pleased these funds continue to be distributed.” The amount that Harvard will receive in FY 2014 was unknown at the time the Press was published.
