{"id":1484,"date":"2012-04-24T01:13:34","date_gmt":"2012-04-24T05:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dandunn.org\/blog\/?p=1484"},"modified":"2012-04-24T01:13:34","modified_gmt":"2012-04-24T05:13:34","slug":"town-meeting-12-session-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dandunn.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/town-meeting-12-session-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Town Meeting \u00e2\u20ac\u212212, Session 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>I take notes during Town Meeting. They are not official in any way. As I listen to people speak, I type notes. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure that, at times, I mishear or misunderstand the speaker, but my notes represent what I hear at the time. I then publish the notes every night after the meeting. I do go back and make a few edits as errors are pointed out to me.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I do not try to reproduce my entire notes for this online version. Sometimes I relay a quote from a specific speaker. Most of the time I only summarize the discussion. At points I give a purely personal opinion; those are clearly labeled like this:\u00c2\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Personal note<\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Arlington Town Meeting of 2012 was called to order by Moderator John Leone.<\/p>\n<p>The meeting sang the National Anthem led by Menotomy Minute Men.<\/p>\n<p>Lieutenant Michael Harper of Salvation Army gave the invocation.<\/p>\n<p>John Leone welcomed new Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine and new Selectmen Joe Curro and Steve Byrne.<\/p>\n<p>The moderator reviewed the meeting speaking rules. \u00c2\u00a0He reviewed the rules of how business is conducted;\u00c2\u00a0specifically\u00c2\u00a0he reminded everyone that the proposed vote is what matters, not the language of the original warrant article. \u00c2\u00a0He talked about Article 73 and how he disagrees that such political resolutions should be on the warrant. \u00c2\u00a0He proposed limiting debate to a single pro and con speaker.<\/p>\n<p>The annual vote about seating rules was made. \u00c2\u00a0The only people allowed &#8220;on the floor&#8221; are Town Meeting Members and various officials; guests and observers should watch from the balcony.<\/p>\n<p>We voted to reconvene on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Article 2 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c State of the Town<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Kevin Greeley gave the state of the town. \u00c2\u00a0He asked the members to give their own assessment of the state of the town, and talked about the next century of Arlington.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Announcements and Resolutions<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dick Smith announced a May 15th Citizens United discussion.<\/li>\n<li>Sean Harrington Pct 15 asked for a moment of silence in honor of the passing of Town Meeting Member Ken Marquis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Article 3 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Reports of Committees<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Many of these reports can be found on the town website:\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.arlingtonma.gov\/public_documents\/ArlingtonMA_TownMeet\/2012ATM\/reports\/index\">http:\/\/www.arlingtonma.gov\/public_documents\/ArlingtonMA_TownMeet\/2012ATM\/reports\/index<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Town Government Reorganization Committee final report was provided by Al Tosti. He said that the committee had made progress on a number of issues, but some of the issues did not progress as far as hoped.<\/li>\n<li>Zoning Bylaw Review Committee report given by Jim Doherty. They are looking for new members.<\/li>\n<li>Arlington Redevelopment Board report was entered by Bruce Fitzsimmons.<\/li>\n<li>Finance Committee report was given by Al Tosti. He talked about the proposition 2.5 override. He thanked the many people who helped the process of getting the town into the GIC health plan. He noted there are still several financial challenges to the town, including federal and state budgets. He noted the passing of Erin Phelps.<\/li>\n<li>Board of Selectmen report was given by Kevin Greeley.<\/li>\n<li>Al Tosti moved to incorporate the motions in the various reports as the main motions for the various articles. \u00c2\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">This vote is very quick and easy, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very important. \u00c2\u00a0If we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make this motion, at the start of every article, the Moderator would have to call on someone to start the debate process by making a motion under that article, find a second for the motion, etc. \u00c2\u00a0Instead, through this vote, we automatically start each article with a motion\u00c2\u00a0already\u00c2\u00a0made and ready for debate. \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Article 3 was tabled.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Article 4 &#8211; Measurer of Wood and Bark<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Harry McCabe asked the meeting to thank John FitzMaurice for his past service. \u00c2\u00a0He moved that Elsie Fiore be appointed, and she was.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Article 5 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Election of Assistant Town Moderator<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Michelle Durocher\u00c2\u00a0nominated Jim O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Conor. \u00c2\u00a0No other nominations. \u00c2\u00a0He was elected.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Article 6 -\u00c2\u00a0Zoning Bylaw Amendment\/Amend Sign Definition<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bruce Fitzsimmons introduced Don Benjamin of the Planning Department. \u00c2\u00a0Mr. Benjamin showed several examples of public art that this could enable. \u00c2\u00a0The current town bylaws would seem to prohibit these examples of public art. \u00c2\u00a0He described the support he&#8217;s found for this change. \u00c2\u00a0There were speakers in favor and one against it. \u00c2\u00a0Paul Schlictman moved terminating debate, which carried by voice vote. \u00c2\u00a0The motion passed by 2\/3 vote &#8211; a non-unanimous voice vote. \u00c2\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">In previous years, this vote would have required a standing count. \u00c2\u00a0With last year&#8217;s rule change now kicking in, the moderator was free to declare this a passing vote. \u00c2\u00a0If more than 5 people had stood up in protest we would have had a standing vote. \u00c2\u00a0In this case, no one did &#8211; it was pretty clear this motion had more than 2\/3 support.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Article 7 -\u00c2\u00a0Zoning Bylaw Amendment\/Business Use<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Planning Director Carol Kowalski gave the article&#8217;s explanation. Today, property owners in certain business districts can convert the property to residential use. In some cases that conversion is &#8220;by right&#8221; and in some cases by &#8220;special permit.&#8221; \u00c2\u00a0This change would create something called &#8220;mixed use&#8221; where the first floor is for commercial or light industry, and upper floors are residential. \u00c2\u00a0The permitted residential would be relatively high density. \u00c2\u00a0The mixed use would require a Special Permit process and an Environmental Design Review. \u00c2\u00a0The higher density is controlled by parking requirements and other requirements. Higher density is only permitted when there is business and residential. \u00c2\u00a0The intent is to keep business usage in a situation that would otherwise be going all-residential. Chris Loreti asked for three extra minutes and was denied. <span><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">I voted in favor of the three extra minutes. \u00c2\u00a0I will always vote to permit speakers extra time, unless they are abusive of the\u00c2\u00a0privilege.<\/span><\/span>\u00c2\u00a0He called this a major change. He said he is in favor of mixed use, but not this one. He showed slides with potential\u00c2\u00a0developments\u00c2\u00a0that he feared might happen, including a 50-foot building next to a home. \u00c2\u00a0He talked about reductions in protections for neighborhoods.<\/p>\n<p>We took a break for 10 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>A speaker asked if this was proposed because of demand? Answer: there haven&#8217;t been specific requests for this mixed use, but there have been related requests. Adam Auster spoke in favor of this. He thinks this is the way for the town to grow and support businesses, and several speakers agreed. \u00c2\u00a0Two speakers asked questions relating to Chris Loreti&#8217;s slides. \u00c2\u00a0The answers to the questions said that the slides were impossible &#8211; those projects would never be approved by the Special Permit process and an Environmental Design Review process. \u00c2\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">I think that this discussion was helpful in putting some perspective on Loreti&#8217;s examples. \u00c2\u00a0They were good rhetoric, but not on point. \u00c2\u00a0<\/span>Jim Doherty made a motion to include B1 in this change. \u00c2\u00a0There was further discussion of the controls in the Special Permit and Environmental Design Review process. \u00c2\u00a0There was discussion of how this would interact with a future Master Plan process. \u00c2\u00a0It was noted that there would be pressure to build residential whether we approve this or not. John Deyst moved to terminate debate, approved. \u00c2\u00a0Doherty&#8217;s amendment fails on voice vote. \u00c2\u00a0Main motion defeated on voice vote. <span><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">I voted in favor of this. \u00c2\u00a0I have been very unhappy\u00c2\u00a0as our business districts have been converting to residential. \u00c2\u00a0I thought that this was a smart way to stem that tide. \u00c2\u00a0Unfortunately, I think the complexity of the change and fear of the unintended consequences kept us from moving forward with it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Article 8 and 9 were tabled. \u00c2\u00a0With only 18 minutes left in the meeting, those issues were too much to bite off. \u00c2\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">I think the Moderator made a great choice here &#8211; we kept working productively up until the close.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Article 10 -\u00c2\u00a0Zoning Bylaw Amendment\/Banners For Historic Sites<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Andy West introduced the article. \u00c2\u00a0He said that it would clarify some current confusion about what signage is permitted to direct visitors to and inform visitors of historic sites. \u00c2\u00a0Chris Loreti asked a large number of questions about why this change was needed. \u00c2\u00a0He wasn&#8217;t sure if he was opposed or supported it. \u00c2\u00a0Sean Harrington moved to terminate debate. \u00c2\u00a0The change was approved by voice vote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Meeting was adjourned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I take notes during Town Meeting. They are not official in any way. As I listen to people speak, I type notes. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure that, at times, I mishear or misunderstand the speaker, but my notes represent what I hear at the time. I then publish the notes every night after the meeting. I do [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-town-meeting-12"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dandunn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dandunn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dandunn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dandunn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dandunn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1484"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/dandunn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1495,"href":"https:\/\/dandunn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484\/revisions\/1495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dandunn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dandunn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dandunn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}