Town Meeting – Night One; Second Night On Tap
Moderator William Mayer (above) called the Town Meeting to order once a quorum had been achieved. Ultimately, over 200 residents participated during the meeting. Mr. Mayer welcomed everyone and set the tone for the evening’s discussions and decisions.
Fire Chief Michael Cassidy outlined how citizens in the cafeteria would be able to participate.
ARTICLE 1. HEAR REPORT OF THE SELECT BOARD – To hear and act on the report of the Select Board. SPONSORED BY: Select Board – APPROVED
ARTICLE 2. HEAR REPORT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE – To hear and act on the report of the Finance Committee. SPONSORED BY: Finance Committee – APPROVED
Moderator Mayer proposed a Consent Agenda that lumped eight articles (3; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; and 17) that are routine and generally do not require discussion. The Consent Agenda was APPROVED.
- ARTICLE 3. AUTHORIZE TREASURER/COLLECTOR TO SELL FORECLOSED TAX TITLE PROPERTIES
- ARTICLE 11. NON-SUBSTANTIVE BY-LAW NUMBERING CHANGES
- ARTICLE 12. AUTHORIZE THE SELECT BOARD TO SELL SURPLUS EQUIPMENT
- ARTICLE 13. AUTHORIZATION TO EXPEND CHAPTER 90 (STATE AID FOR HIGHWAYS PROGRAM)
- ARTICLE 14. AMEND INTEREST RATE PER ANNUM
- ARTICLE 15. AMEND INCOME REQUIREMENTS
- ARTICLE 16. VETERANS’ TAX EXEMPTIONS
- ARTICLE 17. REVOLVING FUND SPENDING LIMITS
ARTICLE 4. COMPENSATION FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS SPONSORED BY: Select Board
COMPENSATION SCHEDULE – ELECTED OFFICIALS FY2021 FY2022
- Board of Assessors (3 members) $7,500 $7,500
- Select Board (3 members) $175 $175
- Town Clerk (Salary) $77,917 $79,475
This article was APPROVED. The approval included the acceptance of the recommendations of the Stipend Committee:
- Ceasing the practice of offering stipends to any elected or appointed Board / Committee in Holliston.
- Maintain the current stipend offered to those officeholders who ran for their current term with the stipend in place.
- Once the current term expires, no future stipends be offered to future officeholders.
ARTICLE 5. PAY UNPAID BILLS – SPONSORED BY: Select Board
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds a sum of money for unpaid bills from prior years; or take any action relative thereto. APPROVED
ARTICLE 6. CURRENT FISCAL YEAR TRANSFERS –SPONSORED BY: Select Board
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds a sum of money for the purpose of supplementing various accounts of the Town’s Fiscal Year 2021 annual operating budget. APPROVED
ARTICLE 7. AMEND CONSOLIDATED PERSONNEL BY-LAW SECTION 29, JOB AND WAGE CLASSIFICATION PLAN –SPONSORED BY: Town Administrator
To see if the Town will vote to amend the Consolidated Personnel By-law Section 29, Job and Wage Classification Plan. APPROVED
ARTICLE 8. AMEND CONSOLIDATED PERSONNEL BY-LAW –SPONSORED BY: Select Board
To see if the Town will vote to amend the Consolidated Personnel By-law by including a new article [Section 30]. APPROVED
ARTICLE 9. AMEND GENERAL BY-LAW ARTICLE XLVI, AMEND ARTICLE IV & DELETE XXXIII –SPONSORED BY: Governance Committee
The discussion on this Article lasted over two hours. During that time, 17 different speakers made the case for or against the Article. Throughout, the discourse remained civil. When the Moderator called the question, the hand vote tallies were: 91-In Favor; 133-Opposed. The Article Did Not Pass.
ARTICLE 10. AMEND GENERAL BY-LAW ARTICLE I & ARTICLE III – SPONSORED BY: Governance Committee
After a brief discussion to clarify some information shared earlier, the Article was APPROVED.
ARTICLE 18. FISCAL YEAR 2022 BUDGET – SPONSORED BY: Omnibus Budget
The Omnibus budget totaling: $66,572,354 was APPROVED.
ARTICLE 19. TRANSFER FROM AVAILABLE FUNDS A SUM OF MONEY FOR THE CAPITAL EXPENDITURE FUND –SPONSORED BY: Select Board
Estimated Cost: $1,750,000 APPROVED.
ARTICLE 20. CAPITAL EXPENDITURES –SPONSORED BY: Select Board
Expenditures totaling: $431,840 were APPROVED.
As the witching hour of 11:00pm drew near, Moderator Mayer called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was made, seconded, and passed at 10:59pm.
The Meeting will resume Tuesday, May 11, 2021 to cover the remaining 17 Articles. Holliston High School; 7:30pm. A quorum of 100 registered voters is needed to complete the Town’s business.
