Dan Dunn

I take notes during Town Meeting. They are not official in any way. As I listen to people speak, I type notes. I’m sure that, at times, I mishear or misunderstand the speaker, but my notes represent what I hear at the time. I try to publish the notes every night after the meeting. I do go back and make a few edits as errors are pointed out to me.  Sometimes I relay a quote from a specific speaker. Sometimes I only summarize the discussion. At points I give a purely personal opinion; those are clearly labeled like this: Personal note.

Town Moderator John Leone called the meeting to order at 8pm on the dot.

Town Meeting Member Jane Howard led the meeting on the piano in the Star-Spangled Banner.

The Moderator announced that Relay for Life is doing a bake sale.

The Moderator announced a survey of Town Meeting Members about paper usage.

Select Board Chair Diane Mahon moved that we will return on Wednesday May 8th for another night of Town Meeting.  My personal odds making: 5/8 5%; 5/13: 60%; 5/15 34%; 5/20 1%.

Announcements

• Bill Hayner announced that Rotary Club award dinner is June 4, honoring Clarissa Rowe and Alan Tosti.
• Steve Revilak reported back on the Minuteman/Greenway cleanup effort.
• Jane Howard invited everyone to Spy Pond cleanup on May 11 from 9 to 1.
• Sarah Burks pointed out the Cyrus Dallin Museum report contained in the annual town report.

We did a test vote with the clickers: Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime. True 117 False 58 Abstain 15 I went to the Van Gogh museum last year. You’d think I’d get this one right.

Reports

• Priya Sankalia, Recycling Committee, Co-Chair, gave the report of the now-renamed Zero Waste Committee.
• Len Kardon, School Committee Chairman gave the report of the School Committee.

Finance Committee Chair Al Tosti tabled Article 35-62 so that we can get to the Minuteman Vocational High School.

Article 63 – Minuteman Vocational High School Budget

Superintendent Ed Bouquillon got 15 minutes for his presentation. He reported on the new school building which is set to open next year. He said there was a jump in enrollment for next year too. He reviewed the changes in his proposed budget. DeAnne Dupont had a question about cleaning services. Roderick Holland is in favor of the budget. 209-0

Articles 57 and 58 were taken from the table.

Article 57 – Budgets

John Deyst rose to say that he doesn’t think we should vote the contingent yes-override and a no-override budget. He thinks we should just vote the yes-override. Al Tosti thinks the FinComm approved contingency method is better – the contingent budget is more appropriate than calling a Special Town Meeting.

School Committee Chair Len Kardon requested 10 minutes for their presentation. He thanked Town Meeting for their support for the AHS rebuild. He noted the opening of the Gibbs and the Hardy’s expansion. He reported on the school’s development of a 5-year plan. I’m so pleased to see this plan. I’ve been asking the school department to use a planning model like this for years. I think it will make for better planning and visibility into the planning. Superintendent Katherine Bodie continued the presentation, reporting on recent successes and current plans. She walked through several details of the proposed budget.

The moderator ran through the list of budgets, and some of the budgets were “held” for discussion.

Select Board – John Worden is opposed to the town joining the Mayor’s Coalition because we are a town, not a city.  This is a semantic complaint, not a substantive one. Arlington is close to Boston, and if we want to affect the urban policies that impact us, we need to join organizations like this one.  One example is the MBTA.  MBTA decisions are driven by the Boston inner-core cities.  If we decline to participate, we decline to exercise a powerful lever on that organization. Ted Paluso noted that the override is $5.5 million, but we don’t actually spend most of the money this year. It’s mostly pushed into savings to be used in future years.

Town Manager – no questions

Comptroller – Gordon Jamieson appreciated the reporting.

Treasurer/Collector – Ed Trembly had a question about notification on excise bills.

Assesors – Timur Yontar introduce another resident, Kathleen Maloon. She believes property taxes are going up too much. In her situation, her land’s value increased dramatically, and so did her taxes. She requested an abatement, but she refused to allow the assessor to inspect her home, and her abatement was denied. She doesn’t think anyone should get a double-digit increase. Assessor Mary Winstanley O’Connor explained that when requests for abatements come in, they are required by the state to get full information, including an inspection; if the inspection is not completed, the abatement must be denied. She explained that the town’s property values have escalated dramatically recently. There are some key facts that didn’t come out clearly in this discussion. The most important one: for many people in town, their taxes went down last year! Proposition 2.5 constrains total tax levy growth to 2.5%, but in when properties are revalued, the burden of that tax levy is redistributed. Property values in Arlington have moved dramatically in the last few years, and that made this year’s revaluation unusually volatile. Broadly put, East Arlington saw dramatic increases in land values, more than other parts of the town.  That moved the tax burden more heavily onto those neighborhoods. That is painful for many individual taxpayers, but I’d argue that it reflects the reality of the situation.  East Arlington’s valuations have risen faster than other parts of town. Al Tosti spoke about the tax rate. Steve Revliak asked a series of questions about how the tax rate is calculated. Dave Levy asked about how property flippers affect property values and tax increases. Roderick Holland asked if we can assess homes differently if they are owned by a long-term resident. Mary Winstanley O’Connor explained that they are required by the state constitution to assess the full-and-fair cash value of your home. Doug Heim explained that there are a few legal exceptions ot this that the town takes advantage of to protect seniors and other groups, but the town doesn’t have the freedom to ignore the state’s assessment methods.

9:33 break started
9:46 break ended

Beth Ann Friedman asked what is the underlying data on changes – the answer is property sales. Annie LaCourt talked about property tax v. wealth tax. She also noted that the first two bills of a year are estimated, and the second two are actual. It can make the second half surprising.

Town Clerk – Steve Revilak asked if the Town Clerk’s records are going to be digitized. There are no plans to do so at this time. Patty Muldoon had a question about the Board of Registrar’s budget.

Parking – Peter Fuller asked about the parking clerk. Timur Yontar asked about the recent court case about chalking cars and how it might affect our revenue.

Public Works – Ed Trembly asked how much salt we used. He was not happy with the salary increases. It was explained that the budget is actually 2 years of salary increases. Annie LaCourt gave support to wage increases.

Fire Services. Peter Fiorie asked about the safety of propane delivery trucks. Fire Chief Jefferson said it was a state regulated vehicle.

Inspections – No questions.

Education – Gordon Jamieson had a “show and tell” about the budget document. He and John Deyst supported the budget.

Health and Human Services – Betty Stone is in favor of the new diversity coordinator. Director of Health and Human Services Christine Bongiorno explained that the position will be the ADA coordinator, and will work with Disabilities Commission, Human Rights Commission, and Rainbow Commission. Mona Mandal asked about collaboration with the school parent diversity inclusion groups.

Insurance – No questions

We moved to voting.  Town Counsel Doug Heim – if we don’t have a contingent budget, and the override fails, then we have to come back later this year.  Deyst’s motion failed 29 – 175 -2. I voted in favor of Deyst’s motion.  This override is, should be, a no-drama override.  It’s smart budgeting, and we should approve it.  If the town chooses to reject it, then it becomes high drama, and we should talk about what the alternatives are.  If the override fails on June 11, I would prefer Town Meeting comes back into session and debates what to do next.  All that said – let’s go with the no-drama, well-planned override.  Vote yes on June 11!  Budget approved 207-2. Contingent Budgets approved 198-11.

Article 58 Capital Budget

Charlies Foskett asked for 18 minutes and got it. He described the process the committee follows and the projects that are proposed. Mustafa Varoglu moved an amendment to not work on the Lake Street intersection on the bike path, but to spend the money on drainage instead. I’m opposed to this amendment.  I think the driver of the amendment are a few bicycle advocates whom I generally agree with, but not in this case.  After years of study, the bottom line is that is the Lake Street intersection with the bike path is overloaded and needs restructuring.  The current configuration unnecessarily blocks car traffic.  The proposal in the capital budget is the result of the many studies, and should move forward.  Some Patricia Worden is concerned about flooding from Mill Brook and is opposed to the DPW project.

We adjourned for the night.