Visit this page for live coverage of Northborough's 2013 Town Meeting, Monday, April 22. This article will be updated throughout the evening, starting at 7:30 p.m. through the completion of Town Meeting.
We welcome your comments in the comments section.
11:08 p.m.: Town Meeting will continue on Tuesday, as no articles can be presented after 11 p.m.
11:07 p.m. Brian Smith, 97 Main St.: "I would like to congratuate Rick and the board that had become apparent with the 2009 zoning bylaw. The Planning Board was very open in asking citizens' opinions. I would strongly encourage everyone to vote for these changes." Article 32 passes.
10:54 p.m.: Article 32 would amend part 7 of the Northborough Town Code, which would change some of the zoning requirements. Current concerns are placement of buildings on parcels, open space concerns, landscaping. Also multifamily and horizontal and mixed use not appropriate for Business East, and the amount of multi-family should be reduced. Recommends a reduction in multi family units. Would reduce multi family units in Business West. Also would require that 50 percent open space would be required in the front of a development. This would improve what was imposed in 2009.
10:50 p.m.: Article 31 passes.
10:47 p.m.: Coderre, presenting article 31, which would allow for projects $50,000 or less that the town would not have to go through the prevailing wage law. "A lot of people don't realize this but if we do anything with four walls and a roof we pay prevailing wages. What we find is when it comes to small projects, I'm not excited about prevailing wages for anything. We pay them. It becomes very problematic for the town especially for smaller projects. We wind up having to go to larger companies and we pay a premium."
10:44 p.m. Article 30 (home rule petition) would enact special legislation to allow the town to use insurance proceeds not more than $150,000 received for property claims without town meeting action. It passes.
10:41 p.m. Article 29 (home rule petition) enacts special legislation to allow the town to use insurance proceeds received to compensate for fire and police personnel. Article 29 passes.
10:38 p.m.: "The arguments for the meals tax are the same for the hotel tax," said Coderre. Article 28 would allow for a 50 percent increase in room occupancy excise from 5 to 6 percent. Article 28 passes. Both articles 27 and 28 were debated, and close, but not as close as the vote on the DPW island.
10:36 p.m. Article 27 passes, imposing a meals tax
10:30 p.m.: Selectman Hutchins: "I want to reiterate some of the points that the administrator made. If you remember on article 4 he outlined these things. One of these things is the OPEB liablity. It is mandated by the state. We either pay for it by revenues or taxation. The starting numer is around $400,000. This is one way we can take some of that oncoming train called OPEB. Vote it down if you'd like, but next year but when we have a mandated liability next year from the state, where will that money come from? This is relatively painless and will take away some of the sting."
10:27 p.m.: "Many of the people who pay this tax will be from out of Northborough. Also, this is a progressive tax and would have less impact on people with fixed income and low income. They will be able to avoid it. The people with higher income will be spending a little bit more of their money. In my mind it's a good policy," said another resident.
10:25 p.m."It's just another tax that you can be quote proud of yourself, but where is it going to end. I think the town is trying to be fiscally responsible, but I have been thinking that every time there is a contract that comes up it seems automatic that people get a certain percentage of raises. I have clients that have moved out of town because they can't afford to live here. We need to work harder and tighten our belts and not pick on some small tax like this. The restaurants are a hard business," said one resident.
10:24 p.m.:"The town doesn't make the decision. It's because the state authorizes it. We don't have the option to come back and do this again in a year or two," said Coderre.
10:22 p.m.: "It's a one time, not sure what will prevent this from happening every year," said another resident.
10:19 p.m.: Resident from Brewer Street: "Oh we're only asking for 11 cents on a meal at McDonald's. Anything by itself will not put a place out of business. But it's one more thing after one more thing. Saying all of the other towns do it doesn't make it right. Let's give landlords a chance that might give others a leg up on surrounding towns. The other aspect is that yeah, it'll reduce your taxes for two years, but then they will jump up and jump up forever, and they want to dedicate the money to reduce the pension costs. But dedicating funds is a bad idea. Every dollar of every year should justify its expenditure. What you should be asking is, are those pensions the right price? Not should we have used dedicated funds. It's another one of those hidden taxes that will be slipped under the rug and added to the tax burden."
10:11 p.m. Article 27 would impose a meals tax of .75 percent. Coderre: "Unlike the federal or state government, municipalities are no different than a private business. We can't do anything unless the state tells us we can. We can institute a meals tax and a hotels tax, and that's why we're bringing these forward. 163 communities have adopted it, including Shrewsbury and Westborough. They adopted it right out of the gate. What you see when you look across the state - what I would have liked the legislature to have done was enact it across the state. What you see is almost all of the communities have adopted it have economic development. It's a .75 surchage. In terms of its impact, a $5 sandwich it would be .04 cents. For a $100 tab, it would be 75 cents." ....."Why now? As we look around, there are only a couple of places we have to go. We have local property taxes and these local option taxes to take advantage of. As we looked at the big picture, all of the boards and committees, and after great debate..we spent nights and nights and nights researching ... there is zero evidence that supports that this affects people's behavior. We are one of the last communities to adopt this."
10:09 p.m. Article 26 votes to approve the Assabet Valley Regional Vocational School District's establishment of the Reserve Fund for Compensated Absences for Employees terminating employment. Approved.
9:58 p.m.: Article 25 passes, giving the DPW $425,000 to replace the DPW Fuel Island, by an extremely narrow margin that required tellers to confirm. Those opposed questioned the cost, and the fact that the tanks will be installed above ground. 122 yes, 73 no was final tally.
9:55 p.m.: Article 24 passes
9:54 p.m.: What is the lifespan of this structure," a resident asks. "About 25 years," said Nason.
9:52 p.m.: Ken Hutchins, resident: "The last few articles are very depressing to me. It seems things are breaking down. I have great sympathy for that because some of my parts don't work. I'm starting to wear down. I take a lot of naps."
9:52 p.m."I have estimates from engineering firms. We're going with a similar footprint of what we have now, but we're going taller." Nason.
9:51 p.m. Doug Stone, resident, "Why does it cost $800,000 to store salt?"
9:50 p.m.: Article 24, which replaces a salt shed at the DPW for $800,000, passes.
9:47 p.m.: Article 23 passes.
9:46 p.m.: Article 23 is to replace DPW loader. "The loader is one of the most heavily utilized equipment in the DPW fleet," Dan Nason, DPW director.
9:44 p.m. Article 22 passes.
9:43 p.m. "Basically we have been dealing with a lot of severe weather events, and we have to stand on our own for the first three or four days. Most people think you make a phone call to the Red Cross and you get cots. It doesn't work that way." Coderre presents article 22, which would purchase an emergency shelter for $28,000. "This is a trailer that will store 100 cots and supplies."
9:40 p.m. James Lee, Lincoln Street: "I want to thank you Chief Durgin for all your hard work. I have one question, which is a general question that I asked last time. I would like to understand what is the disposition of the old equipment and will we see some funds from the resale." Durgin: "To put a price on what we received, it would be listed as a trade. To tell you what it is worth, I have no idea. I don't think it's worth very much." Article 21 passes.
9:32 p.m. Coderre gives presentation on capital articles, which include articles 21-25. "We have a six year capital improvement plan. The capital budget are the articles you are about to go through. It's important for people to know that these projects don't come forward without a big picture perspective."Read more about capital projects. Total capital budget is 1.5 million. "If you approve these projects we will have brought forward 7.5 million in projects that required no tax impact." Cheif David Durgin gives presentation on Article 21, which would approve $50,000 for a self contained breathing apparatus. "We have a machine that is tired and we're starting to have cost of repairs. We ask for your support."
9:31 p.m.: Article 20 passes.
9:30 p.m.:"I would like to thank the managers for bringing these in under budget and being responsible with the taxpayers money," James Lee, resident.
9:28 p.m.: Article 20 rescinds authorization to borrow on unused bonds, including $150,000 for repairs to Peaslee roof, $82,000 Melican Middle School roof.
9:25 p.m.: Article 19, to appropriate $150,000 for a reserve fund, to "spend money on something that is unforseen," said Coderre. Article 19 passes.
9:21 p.m.: Article 18 is a vote to transfer available funds from FY2013 to reserve fund. This article seeks to replenish the reserve fund within the current year with insurance proceeds. Article 18 passes. Money is to fix a lader truck. It has already been repaired. Article 18.
9:19 p.m.: Articles 11-17, which reauthorizes revolving funds to the fire and police departments, animal control, community affairs, family and youth services and council on aging, passes
9:18 p.m.: Article 10, voting to authorize the Board of Selectmen to accept grants and state funds, passes
9:15 p.m.: Article 9, to authorize the Library Trees to accept and spend the sum of money received under the Library Incentive and Municipal Equilazation Grants. "It's a housekeeping article and allows us to spend state aid." Article 9 passes.
9:14 p.m.: Article 8 passes unanimously
9:13 p.m.: "It's not fair to compare a technical high school. It's not fair to compare them," Assabet principal.
9:12 p.m.: James Lee, resident, questions how "Assabet managed to keep the budget so much lower when Gobron did not."
9:11 p.m.: Article 8, to appropriate Northborough's share of the assessment for Assabet Valley to the sum of $647,983.
9:09 p.m.: Article 7, the Algonquin Budget, passes, with roughly five opposed
9:06 p.m. Dr. Gobron addresses activity fees. "We have been successful in activity fees after some support. We had support from the student council and advisory. They found that our fees are not as high as many of the surrounding towns. We would prefer to not have an activity fee or sports fees but we're in some fiscally difficult times. We do have strict oversight of the activity fee and all other fees. We spent quite a bit of time making sure everything is accounted for."
9:04 p.m.: Resident thanks Dr. Gobron for the high quality education at Algonquin. Applause.
9:02 p.m.: Resident from Lincoln Street: "You indicated that there were $86,000 in grants that were lost. Wouldn't anyone fiscally responsibly person cut something?" Gobron: "The fact that students can receive a high school diploma that would not without these special services is extremely important to me. I believe strongly we need this particular program."
8:51 p.m.: Article 7 presentation by Dr. Gobron. Article 7 is the budget for Algonquin Regional High School totaling $9,494,876.
8:50 p.m."I'm Aaron Hutchins father, 91 Brigham Street, What percentage of the students who graduate from Algonquin go on to higher education?" Gobron: "Well over 90 percent." Article 6 passes with four opposed
8:47 p.m.: Longtime Resident to Gobron: "You are one of the most trustworthy, hard working and most lovely people I've ever had the pleasure of working with. It's the quality that this town wants and we're all the beneficiaries."
8:42 p.m.: Resident James Lee, Lincoln Street, said: "You are the person taking the most money out of the pockets of myself and my good neighbors. Last year you had programs run out and kept people out. You have grants running out and instead of cutting, you are putting it on the taxpayer. Wouldn't it be better to cut the programs." Gobron responds: "These programs are very important to our students. As much as we'd like to cut these programs, the needs of our students are the top priority."
8:30 p.m.: Article 6 presentation on Northborough Public Schools budget of $20,372,564. Superintendent of Schools Charles Gobron gives presentation. "We believe that the smaller class sizes result in a quality of education for our students." Increases include $50,000 for ELL teacher at Melican, $50,00 for a special eucation professional at Peaslee, $50,000 for special education professional at Zeh, $25,000 for CASTLE teacher, $50,000 for special education professional K-8, $81,369 increase in special education tuition, $79,000 for student therapy.
8:28 p.m.: Article 5 passes
8:22 p.m.: Presentation on water and sewer funds, article 5, which would appropriate and transfer funds of $4,377,199. DPW director Dan Nason and Town Engineer Fred Litchfield present. Water budget proposed is $2,169,985, which is an increase of 7.55 percent over last year. The proposed sewer budget is $1,448,115 which is less than 1 percent over last year. Solid Waste Fund is $759,099, a 2.82 percent decrease from FY2013.
8:19 p.m.: Article 4 passes with two opposing
8:17 p.m.:"I would admonish the town leadership that perhaps we could adjust those tax increases or roll them back to zero, said a resident, "I would admonish that when outside funding is lost for an item don't put it back onto the taxpayer."
7:49 p.m.: Town budget of $17,481,972 is presented. $16,629,388 of that is raised by taxation. Town Administrator John Coderre talked about winning certificate of excellence for the town's Annual Town Report. Presented overview of budget, focusing on goals of the budget, including minimizing tax increases, negotiating sustainable collective bargaining agreements with the town's five unions, and protecting the town's ability to finance its services beyond FY2014. Revenue assumptions: 3.61 percent or $1.45 million in tax receipts. State aid level funded at $4.77 million. Revenue sources include 80 percent in taxes, state aid 10 percent, free cash 3.8 percent, 5.3 percent departmental receipts, and other funds .7 percent. Northborough K-8 schools went up 4.5 percent, general government up 4.5 percent and assabet decreased 1.48 percent. Algonquin HS's asssessment increased nearly 10 percent, debt assessment decreased $629,333. Listed positions that were lost by attrition. Added: new police officer, new fire department position added, new emergency notification system, veterans budget full-time agent, snow and ice budget up to $46,500, DPW reorganization. "Every year I stand up here and try to convey how tenuous our budget is. Our average increase in health insurance has been about 2.7 percent. This is why we have been financially solvent. We also had a reduction in our debt service."
7:47 p.m. Article 1 passes, voting to ratify the appointment of moderator to Gerald Hickman as deputy moderator. Article 2 passes authorizes the treasurer to enter into cmpensating balance agreement. Article 3 is passed over.
7:42 p.m.: Chairman of of the Board of Selectmen Bill Pantazis presents honors and acknowledgements with plaques of appreciation. Among those honored: Nancy Berglund, Virginia Simms-George. "We want to thank all these folks for giving their time to the Northborough and we appreciate it."
7:40 p.m.: George announces finance team, town counsel, Board of Selectmen, town clerk, assistant town clerk, the town administrator and others at the "front of the hall."
7:34 p.m.: Moderator Fred George announced there are more than 100 people, which is the required quorum. He presents a moment of remembrance for those who were injured and killed in this vicious attack. Moment of silence. "I ask that while we may not agree on every subject, we all live in this community and will continue to do so after this meeting. I ask you to remember that."
7:26 p.m.: Seats are filling in, but it is not as filled as last year. Five minutes to go before the start.