By Richard Price
Grafton News Editor –
The Annual Town Meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 9 at 7 p.m. in the Grafton High School auditorium. There will be 60 articles inside two warrants — plus the town budget — for registered voters to vote up or down. There will be a lot of ground to cover but here are a handful of highlights worth noting. The complete warrants are in a special insert section in this paper. The meeting will also be broadcast live on Grafton Community Television.
Two of the articles scheduled, which combined will ask for about $775,000 for new fire trucks, is expected to be passed over, according to the Finance Commit- tee recommendations. Ray Meade, the town moderator, confirmed that in an online comment on The Grafton News website. He said the Selectmen will seek a third party consultant to review the current equipment. The wording of articles 7 and 8 said funding was to be requested through a debt exclusion. But in a recent Selectmen meeting, several members were concerned the funding proposal would be too onerous for tax- payers, especially those living on a fixed income. On Tuesday, Town Administrator Tim McInerney and Fire Chief Michael Gauthier said a lease agreement might be a future solution.
Article 9, which will ask for $13.895 million to fund a new DPW barn, could be the most debated item of the night. Proposed for 48 Old Westboro Road, the 35,000 square foot plan was originally slated for a vote in October but the advisory committee pulled back because they wanted to organize an outreach campaign to get more feedback. In past meetings, committee members have said the need for a new facility is great because of space limitations as well as growing safety and environmental mandates by the state and federal government. But some residents have commented that property tax rates have risen sharply in the past 10 years in a push to upgrade a series of worn out infrastructure. One of the most recent is the Proposition 2 1⁄2 override to rebuild roads and energize the school budget. Some taxpayers have commented they are feeling maxed out.
Article 42, a zoning bylaw change for medical marijuana dispensaries, will also face a vote and likely a robust floor debate on May 9. The Finance Committee recommends its passage saying it requires that all future medical marijuana establishments are subject to review by the Planning Board, including a public hearing process. This is something many residents were demanding after Selectmen voted to sign a letter of nonopposition last November for Sage Cannabis. In this week’s letter to the editor, resident Mark Johnson said the bylaw, as written, doesn’t go far enough especially if voters pass a statewide ballot in November allowing recreational use. “The residents of Grafton deserve a complete and comprehensive approach towards this new industry,” he wrote.
Two additional items will address dogs and their owners. Article 50, if passed, will waive dog license fees for owners age 70 or over. Article 51 is a lengthy bylaw amendment addressing animal control regulation changes “concern- ing dog licensing, kennel licensing and operation, animal vaccination, danger- ous and nuisance dogs, [plus] animal control, restraint, and treatment.”
Other articles on the docket include a vote on a civil service home rule petition to benefit the police department’s human resource matters, a vote to raise $35,000 to address invasive weed growth in lakes, ponds and rivers; improvements for Silver Lake Beach, a river walk feasibility study and authorization to transfer $499,686 to continue renovation of the wastewater treatment facility.
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