Citizens petition for Youth Advocate

My packet for this week includes a citizen's petition asking that the funding for the Youth Advocate's position be put on the Town Meeting warrant. I will scan and publish the petition when I have the chance. Massachusetts General Law (MGL Ch39, sec 10)requires the Select Board to place on the Town meeting warrant any written petition that comes above the signatures of ten registered voters of the town. So it is written, so it shall be done
The problem is of course that there is no extra money floating around to fund this position. That means ...
... it has to be taken from somewhere else. The question is where? The petition mentions the tax levy and also includes the Stabilization Fund as a source of funding. That inclusion is probably not a wise move since a 2/3 majority vote is required for withdrawal from the Stabilization Fund.
Without a recurring source of revenue to fund the Youth Advocate, the same issue is likely to come up again next year and so on.
Click here to read on!

Local reps on taxes and reform

Here is the Standard Times article about the positions our local state reps have taken on taxes and reform.
I agree with Representative Quinn that the sales tax is not the right answer. He voted...

...against raising it. I also agree with his stand on reforms. We part company on the gas tax.
What are your thoughts about taxes and reform in the Commonwealth?
Click here to read on!

Video mesage from Governor on taxes

Follow this link to view Governor Patrick's message on taxes
Several Blue Mass Group members weigh in here and here

So what do you think?
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Pa Senator Specter to join Democrats

WOW! NY Times reports today that Pennsylvania US Senator Arlen Specter will switch parties and caucus with the Democrats. Senator Specter would give the Dems 60 votes in the Senate, enough to provide cloture against filibusters. Of course that assumes ...

... the other 59 Democratic Senators will toe the line, a dicey proposition at best. Humorist and commentator Will Rogers was once asked if he belonged to any organized political party,
"No", he replied, "I'm a Democrat"
Click here to read on!

Draft Spring Town Meeting Warrants

You can find the latest draft of the June 2nd Town Meeting Warrant here and the draft Special Town Meeting Warrant to be held on the same day here. I want to emphasize the caveat that these are drafts of the warrant, not the final version. Articles can and will be withdrawn, added, and revised before they are presented at Town Meeting.
Just to get the discussion rolling, ...

... I think the Community Preservation projects (articles D,E,F and F1) spend too much. The scope of projects should be reduced or one or more projects should be delayed.
I have to get out my copy of the Lincoln Park Overlay bylaw and go over Article R. I will post the whole bylaw with the changes marked up to this blog. I think that's the only way to make sense of this article.
I have a problem with the proposed section 7 Commercial Vehicle parking of article DD since I think it may place a burden on local craftsmen who don't have off street parking for their vehicles. I'm not talking about tractor trailers but many tradespeople have a small truck or heavy duty pickup that may meet the criteria in the proposed bylaw.
In the Special Town Meeting, article I has the Water Enterprise buying land from the Town of Darmouth? I'll have to call someone about that one. I'll blog about what I find.
Article J of the Special Town Meeting is to appropriate funds from the Stabilization Fund for this year's (FY09) expenses. Last year, the Town Meeting put an extra $500,000 in the Stab Fund in anticipation of budget cuts this year. Turns out to have been a prescient move. The town needs to take it out to meet our obligations.
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Are newspapers going to disappear?

I can't say I am enamored of the changes that have been made to the Standard Times recently. Not much in news in there anymore. Tough to have much when you only have a handful of reporters to generate copy. Still, it is the best and often only source of news on local happenings. The newspapers all over the country are going broke. The Boston Globe and Philadelphia Inquirer may soon cease to exist. The trouble is that advertising revenue is drying up, perhaps being shifted to websites and newer technologies. How will we have an informed electorate if the fourth estate is not there to tell us ...

...what our government and elected officials are doing? As much as I complain about the media, they serve a vital function in a democracy. I don't know what the answer is, what do you think?
Click here to read on!

Governor says he will veto sales tax hike

Governor Patrick has written to the legislature about the proposed sales tax increase and told them he will veto the hike without reforms in state spending first. You can find the press release from the Governor's office here Those who follow Massachusetts politics know that a governor's veto given the huge majority of Democrats in the legislature is a symbolic gesture. Unless Governor Patrick can raise a hue and cry from the public, the legislature can easily override the veto. That leaves it up to us...

...to contact our reps if we don't want this tax increase.
I am no fan of the Governor's gas tax hike proposal either for that matter. The release mentions transportation reform,pension reform, ethics reform, municipal reforms, and targeted revenue reform. These reforms are all needed. The problem I have with the gas tax is that it is targeted at Boston area concerns. I don't see how it benefits the other areas of the Commonwealth very much.
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State budget holds up town budgets

Uncertainty about the state aid is delaying finalization of town budgets across the Commonwealth. The Standard Times has an article about that here. At issue is the amount of state aid that town's will receive on a wide range of budget categories. Dartmouth has already planned for many of the cuts but there are a few which may still impact our town budget. School aid, called Chapter 70 aid, will be funded at FY2009 levels. Other unrestricted aid will be cut. The state has already specified the amount of highway aid, called Chapter 90 funds, which I wrote about here. State Representatives are considering a sales tax increase ...

... according to the Blue Mass Group blog here and here. I would rather see a local option meals and room tax enacted or a modest increase in income tax. Sales tax is a regressive tax which falls most heavily upon those who must spend most of their income while the income tax is indexed to income and higher earners pay more. What are your thoughts on tax increases and the state budget?
UPDATE! Seems the Constitiution of the Commonwealth prohibits a graduated income tax. I stand corrected.
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Yard and leaf waste pickup schedule

The Standard Times has an article about yard and leaf waste pickup dates here. The pickup dates are one Friday during May depending on your regular trash pickup schedule. May 1 for Monday pickups, May 8 for Tuesday pickups, May 15 for Wednesday pickups, ...

...and May 22 for Thursday pickups

Leaves, grass clippings and dead plants must be placed in biodegradable plastic Eco bags or biodegradable paper bags to be picked up. If the waste is left in barrels or corrugated boxes, the containers will be emptied and left at the curb.
The yard waste will not be picked up if left in regular plastic or paper bags or with regular household trash.

Thanks to those who participated in the Dartmouth Green Up day this weekend. I saw a lot of collected bags along the side of our highways and even a group who went down the Paskamansett by canoe to pick up. Please help us keep Dartmouth clean and don't litter.
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One Hand in my Pocket-Alanis Morrissette

Alanis is an artist with a unique sound
You Tube embed after the jump


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Community Preservation Committee projects for 2010

The recommended projects from the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) for FY2010 can be found at this link. They include a historical building inventory for the Dartmouth Historical Commission, renovations at the Apponagansett Meeting House (photo here), improvements at the Rogers Street landing (parking lot, lights and fencing), and purchase of the former State Police barracks on Route 6 for veteran's housing. The recommendations will go to the Town Meeting ...

... for their approval on June 2nd.
Community Preservation Act funds are raised from a surcharge on property taxes which are matched at between 5 and 100% by state funds. The 2010 state matching amount will be 29%. An accounting of Dartmouth's current CPC funds can be found at this link.
Up until last year, the CPC had sufficient reserves to retire their debt and dissolve the program within one year. Due to the cost of the projects approved last year, the program now holds debt in excess of their reserves. That trend continues this year as the CPC will receive revenues of about $628K but has approved projects of $649K. The CPC must also fund $378K in debt service and administrative costs for FY 2010. That means their available reserves will be reduced for the second year.
Ms. McDonald, A member of the CPC, pointed out at the Finance Committee last night that the CPC is certainly not broke. They have $1.5 million in the bank right now. But they owe more than that in notes, hence my statement that they cannot retire all the debt incurred. If all the recommended projects are funded this year, their cash in hand reserves will fall to $1.1 million next year.
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Bob Dylan on Friday- It ain't me, Babe

From 1964 album, Another side of Bob Dylan
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Earl Scruggs and the Chieftains

Pretty much have to tap your foot to this one.
You Tube embed after the jump


Do you recognize the fellow who introduces this video?
He wrote Angela's Ashes
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State Budget amendments

The state House will take up amendments to the House Ways and Means budget proposal over the next couple of weeks. The Blue Mass Group has a post brought over from ONE Massachusetts blog about the amendments and the difficulty in getting through their intent and effect. The post has links to a list of the 978 amendments and a run through of what it takes to understand just one amendment. It is a daunting task just to go through the list. Those political junkies among us might want to check out amendments 155, 190, 213, 225, 226, 496, and 920. I have no idea what ...

...the prospects are for any one of these amendments. There is wheeling and dealing among the representatives that is part of the process of any legislation which will determine what is passed.
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Orientation for Town Meeting members set

Curt Brown's Standard Times blog reports that Town Clerk Lynn Medeiros has scheduled an orientation session for Town Meeting members ahead of the June 2nd Town Meeting. The session is scheduled for May 12 at 7 p.m. in the Select Board meeting room at Town Hall. The session is to acquaint members with Town Meeting procedures and the functions various town officials provide at the Town Meeting. Those presenting at the orientation are Town Meeting Moderator Steve Sharek, interim Executive Administrator Ed Iacaponi, Finance Committee chair Dr. Peter Friedman, Town Counsel Anthony Savastano, Select Board chair Joe Michaud and Town Clerk Medeiros.
While aimed at newly elected members of our town's legislature, I am sure that ...

... serving members would be welcome. New members will be notified by mail.
For details, contact Ms. Medeiros by email at lmedeiros@town.dartmouth.ma.us or phone 508-910-1800.
Having this session is a great idea. Kudos to those involved in providing it.
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Common Cause eGovernment awards-web edition

Several local communities will be honored with Common Cause e-Government Awards for making government more open and accessible through their town websites. The Standard Times article about Lakeville's website is here. The award criteria as set out on the Common Cause website were;

e-Government Award Recipients:
In order to qualify for an e-Government Award, the town or city must post their governing body's agenda and minutes, budget information, general by-laws, and--if applicable--their town meeting warrant and results.

119 communities met this criteria...

...

e-Government Award with Distinction Recipients:
In order to qualify for an e-Government Award with Distinction, the town or city must fulfill requirements above, as well as provide archived governing board agenda and minutes, zoning by-laws, school committee agendas and minutes, agendas and minutes for an additional board or committee, and a calendar with all public meetings. At present, the following 51 communities meet this criteria

The functionality that is described above is something to shoot for and I hope to find Dartmouth listed next year.
Click here to read on!

Destination Imagination teams seek funds

Two teams of students from Dartmouth elementary schools qualified for a Destination Imagination global competition in Knoxville, TN. The Standard Times article about the teams can be found at this link. According to the article,

Although Destination Imagination is sponsored by the Dartmouth Public School System, the school system cannot financially support the teams which earned the right to go on to the Global Finals on May 20.

continued after the jump

These teams are now hurriedly trying to fundraise their way to Knoxville on their own. If you would like to contribute to their efforts, you may send a donation in the form of a check made out to Town of Dartmouth/Global DI Account, c/o Rob Tetrault, 31 Lane Farm Rd, North Dartmouth, MA, 02747.

Help out if you can. Congratulations to the DI teams. Good luck!
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State GIC health Insurance?

Blue Mass Group has a discussion of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) tracking of activity by their locals in considering health insurance provided through the states Group Insurance Commission(GIC) program. This is just a slice of the total number of municipal employees who are eligible ...

... to switch to the state plan but, as the blog post points out, information is sparse on this issue. What seems clear is that municipalities are not bringing the issue to the table when negotiating with collective bargaining units.
Dartmouth has an opportunity to put the GIC switch on the agenda since nearly all our collective bargaining agreements are up on June 30th, 2009.
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Blue Mass Grroup and the Globe on Quinn Bill cuts

The state House 2010 budget proposes cutting $50 million dollars in funding for incentive pay to police officers who earn college degrees. The move came as a surprise to the police unions and most who watch Massachusetts politics. This post on Blue Mass Group has a discussion of the issue and ...

.. a link to a Boston Globe article about the cuts. What are your thoughts about it?
Click here to read on!

2010 budget-State aid reductions

This Standard Times editorial today endorses the position taken by the state House Ways and Means chair, Representative Murphy. Rep. Murphy does not want to raise any taxes to balance the state 2010 budget. As a result, state spending must be reduced. The proposed cuts have been forwarded to the towns for planning purposes. You can find the local aid contribution estimates at this link.
Chapter 70 school aid will be level funded so the amount will be the same as 2009, Other areas will be cut and the net result is over $1.2 million dollars less from the state to the town. Our budget estimates assumed level funded state aid. Actually, the assumption was that the aid would match what was provided after the governor's mid-year cuts.
Unrestricted aid will be cut around $1 million and the police career incentive funds will be cut $190K. The police career incentive, called Quinn bill funds, provide added pay for police officers who earn college degrees. I don't have information ...

... right now about how or if the town must pay the difference if the Quinn bill funds are not provided.
As a practical matter, the town administrators, Select Board, and Finance Committee are going to have to revisit the budget which was nearing completion and probably make additional cuts. As always, the devil is in the details. Before applying funds to capital needs, the town budget has nearly $1 million extra. The current plan was to apply that surplus to capital needs of the town for needed equipment and maintenance of schools, roads, and town buildings. Many of these capital needs have been long delayed and are nearing the stage where they cannot be postponed, even for one year. So the choice will be to delay these capital items once again or further reduce town spending. Areas which were considered for reductions this year and then restored are library funding (partially restored), school crossing guards, and Natural Resources. Whether these departments must now be reduced to balance the budget will have to be reconsidered. Click here to read on!

US holding prisoners incognito?

Blue Mass Group blog has a post about Democracy Now's report on secretive prisons in Illinois and Indiana. Not sure what the whole story is but the government needs to do things in the light of day. Especially when it comes to locking people up in prisons. This practice seems much more abusive to our rights ...

... than the tax issues which drew so much coverage lately.
Click here to read on!

Percussion Group wins world title

The Dartmouth High Percussion group won a world title at the Winter Group International championship. Details are in this Standard Times article.
Congratulations ...

... to the members, staff and parents.
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Town Meeting Moderator looking for board members

The Town Meeting Moderator, Mr. Sharek, is seeking volunteers to serve on th Finance Committee and Personnel Board. This Standard Times article gives details on how to apply to the Moderator. These are very important advisory boards to the Town Meeting.
Send letters of interest, along with a resume, to ...

...Mr. Steve Sharek
25 Ricketson St.
Dartmouth, MA, 02747.
Information may also be e-mailed to stevesharek@comcast.net.
Click here to read on!

Tina rocks-River deep-mountain high

Tina Turner with Ike and band. She rocks this song and nearly every other she's done
You Tube embed after the jump


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State House looks at draconian cuts

The Standard Times published an article this morning about their meeting with state House Ways and Means chair, Rep. Charles A. Murphy, D-Burlington.
The representative does not feel that any tax hikes are likely, that casino income is years away, and local option taxes, ...

... such as the room and meals tax, are going to pass. As I posted here, even without additional revenue, Dartmouth is moving toward a sustainable budget. It seems that the town was prudent in not expecting and planning on the additional revenue.
Representative Murphy also indicated that the county sheriffs may be going away and that the state may mandate regional delivery of services.
Click here to read on!

Excellent letter from Dr. Sharples

Dr. Sharples has an excellent letter today on the Standard Times editorial page. I only wish that I were as eloquent as he is. The jist of his argument is that we have limited income and not a lot of good options for increasing that income. That leaves us with difficult decisions about...

...what to fund with the resources that we have. As I said in this post, the town has made progress toward living within its means. That has taken sacrifice from taxpayers, town employees, and those who receive services. Those sacrifices have begun to turn the tide of red ink that has plagued our budget. I think going forward we will be able to address some of the more pressing needs of the schools and other town departments. An example is that the Finance Committee will probably be able to recommend appropriation of over $200K for computer technology needs at the schools. The town may also be able to provide some additional capital funding for road repair and maintenance above the state Chapter 90 funds. That is no small feat considering the national, state and local economies. The signs are hopeful but we must continue to exercise fiscal discipline to get to a sustainable budget.
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Light at the end of the tunnel

As the town nears completion of the 2010 budget process, I am encouraged by what has happened. We are approaching a situation where our budget and the growth of our expenditures is sustainable from our recurring revenue. There are still challenges even within the current fiscal year. Fortunately the Finance Committee recommended and Town Meeting voted to put an additional $500K in the Stabilization Fund last year in anticipation of an economic downturn. That was proved to be a wise choice and the money will be needed to meet our FY 09 expenses. A $300K grant of state pothole funds has not been received and probably won't be forthcoming.
For FY2010, the governor's budget included $365 million in room and meals taxes. That tax has yet to be passed and its prospect are uncertain. That may impact our state aid. Several factors have allowed the town to reach a proposed budget that doesn't require tax increases or mass layoffs for FY2010.
The first is a $1.2 million dollar reduction in required school spending because student population went down by 120 students. Whether that is temporary ...

... or a change in town demographics is not yet known. The town departments have aggressively sought consolidations and reductions and most are going to get a lower dollar amount than they spent this year.
Dartmouth's FY2010 budget contains no money for salary increases for any town employees. However contracts for all the town unions will be negotiated by July 1. If the town and unions cannot reach agreement that on the zero increases, that will cause a budget shortfall and result in layoffs of employees. That is the stark truth of the matter. Furthermore any increases roll up costs year over year and could mean continued deficits and future layoffs as well. Holding the line on salaries is one critical area where our planning can go off the tracks.
Getting to this point has required some sacrifices. The townspeople now pay a fee for trash and voted a Prop 2-1/2 override last year. The town departments have scaled back on spending. There have been and will be layoffs of a few employees. That is regrettable but necessary in order to reach a sustainable budget. The net result is that our town may be finding its fiscal footing even in these difficult times. If we continue to seek efficiencies, consolidate and regionalize services, the next few years may get us to a budget which we can sustain for the long term. At that point, the taxpayers can make decisions about what services they would like to add and are willing to pay for through overrides.
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Dylan -Tomorrow is a long time

Great version of this song.


The musicians who accompany Dylan are almost always terrific.
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Latest MOB file and Schedule A budget

Here is the latest MOB file which contains a tab for Schedule A and CIP requests for each department.
Go through this file carefully and you will have a very good understanding of the town budget. This file shows that the town proposes to spend less...

...in total dollars next year than it did this year. Quite an accomplishment and kudos are due to the town departments and the Finance Committee. We are on the right track. We need to hold the line, gain some efficiencies where possible, and a sustainable budget will result.
Click here to read on!

CPC projects for FY2010 funds

The Community Preservation Committee (CPC) had a public hearing on Tuesday on proposed projects for their FY 2010 funds. The chair, Mr. Baker-Smith, opened the meeting by noting that the state match this year will be 29%. CPC funds come from a 1-1/2% surcharge on our property tax which is then matched by state funds at between 5 and 100%.
The Historical Commission was first and is asking for $45K to continue with Phase 2 of an inventory of historical buildings. Phase 1 completed with CPC funds last year inventoried all homes built prior to 1841. Phase 2 would include homes built from 1841 to 1889. The inventory will be put on the town website. The CPC noted that they must take the funds for this out of their administrative budget and probably can't fund the entire request.
Next the Waterways commission proposed $97K for grading, fencing, and lighting of 1.1 acres at the Rogers Street landing. The site is contaminated from prior use...



..and must be capped according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. Thes funds would be used to accomplish that and provide parking for cars, trucks and boat trailers using the launch. One interesting note is that the proposed lighting would be solar powered LED lights.
The Dartmouth Housing Authority (DHA) is requesting $350K to purchase and begin work to convert the former State Police Barracks on State Road into 7 units of veterans congregate housing. The conversion was estimated to cost $855K over the $350K in CPC funds. The DHA would raise the additional funds from private donors and grants to fund the conversion.
The final project request was from the Apponagansett Friends for $162.4K for restoration at the Apponagansett Meeting House on Russells Mills Road. The funds would be used to reinstall a post supporting the balcony, replace shutters, renovate fences and stone walls, install handicap ramps and a handicapped accessible composting toilet.
The recommendations on these projects from the CPC will go to the Finance Committee for review and then become a Town Meeting article for approval by that body.
Total CPC receipts for this year will be about $632K. The proposed projects would use up all those funds with nothing left for repayment of outstanding notes from prior years. Therefore some of this year's project requests must be reduced or declined, or the CPC must borrow to fund them. Borrowing will further reduce the ability to fund projects in future years. Last year for the first time since it's inception, the CPC accepted obligations in excess of the funds available to retire all debt within one year.

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Procul Harum 1967

According to NPR, this song is the most frequently played over the past 75 years in Great Britain. Not sure how they arrived at that. The radio report also noted that many artists including some you wouldn't suspect have covered the song.
You Tube embed after the jump.


Never would have guessed that this had happened


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US Census underway

Canvassers for the US Census Bureau will be visiting every housing unit in every neighborhood in the nation between April and July this year. The census workers will use hand held computers with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to document the official identification and location of every residence. Census workers will wear official identification while performing their activities.
I saw two census workers doing this task,,,

,,.this afternoon on Hixville Road.
The national census is required by the US Constitution and is used to apportion representation in the House of Representatives and many other things. The first census was conducted in 1790. The census occurs every ten years.
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House budget available online

The House version of the 2010 state budget is available online at this link. Thanks to Blue Mass Group blog for posting the URL and posting about the budget here. The Governor's budget proposal is taken by the house as House 1 budget and then modified to meet the legislator's priorities. The revised budget is House 2. That is what...

... you will find at the link. The members will have a few weeks to offer and pass amendments to the House 2 budget and then it will be sent to the state Senate. The final budget will be passed by both houses, signed by the governor minus line item vetoes, returned to the General Court for possible veto overrides and is then approved.
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DCTV studio move

DCTV was informed by the school department several months ago that the middle school needed the space currently occupied by the DCTV studios for classroom space. The school department offered alternative space in the lower level of the middle school for the studios. For a number of reasons including difficulty in soundproofing, the height of the ceilings, and the lack of air conditioning, the DCTV staff determined that the lower level space in the middle school was not suitable. The ceiling height was to low to allow the lighting grid and the air conditioning is needed for the equipment, not the people.
DCTV then asked where space could be made available in town buildings to accommodate their operation. One major consideration was that the new space had to be close to a fiber connection to Comcast. That narrowed the field considerably. Mr. Iacaponi proposed two locations, the Town Hall using the Select Board meeting room as a studio and the old Town Hall adjacent to the police station. Both are close to a fiber end. DCTV staff looked at both locations and determined that the old Town Hall was better. More space, less disturbance to other town operations, ability to construct the studio ...

... without disruption, and room for expansion among other things.
The cost of the move is estimated at $200,000. Not all of that expense must come at once. The HVAC system will have to have air conditioning added before the equipment arrives. The cabling and wiring will have to be installed. Then the equipment can be moved. DCTV staff have estimated a 2 week outage will be needed to disconnect, physically relocate equipment, and reconnect. No broadcasts would occur during that time. The funding for this move will come from DCTV and whatever town funds can be identified for the purpose. It is up in the air at this time. Neither DCTV or the town was aware that this move was going to be needed so no contingencies had been made. DCTV has funds earmarked for equipment that could be diverted and the town has a capital improvement request for work at the old Town Hall which may be used to defray the cost.
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Finalists named in High School principal search

The Standard Times has news about the two finalists to replace Ms. Dimery as principal of the high school. The two candidates are being interviewed this week. Click here to read on!

Reed Road project sent to DHCD

The Select Board voted last night to send an application to the state Department of Housing and Community Development(DHCD) to qualify the project of 162 units of housing on Reed Road as a 40R development. There are some advantages to the town in having this project qualify as a 40R development. Namely that the state will provide funds to offset the impact of the development, MGL Chapter 40R section 9. The payment would be $200,000 for the project and $3,000 per unit of housing. The total is $200K plus $3K times 162 or $686,000. These funds are only available if the project is qualified as a 40R project.
The developer is asking that the Reed Road project ...

...be added as an amendment to the Lincoln Park Smart Growth Overlay District (LPSGOD) bylaw. The first step, which was initiated last night, is to have the DHCD qualify the project as a 40R. Then the Planning Board must approve an amendment to the LPSGOD bylaw in accordance with MGL Chapter 40A section 5. The Planning Board would recommend the LPSGOD bylaw amendment to Town Meeting which would then have to vote to approve the bylaw revision.
At that point, the developer would submit plans to the Permit Approval Authority(PAA) of the LPSGOD. The PAA is a special board created by the LPSGOD bylaw and is comprised of 3 members, one member of the Select Board, one member of the Planning Board, and one member of the Zoning Board of Appeals. The current membership is Kathleen Horan McLean, John Haran, and Roger Tougas. I think that the Select Board needs to appoint a currently serving member to the PAA. This is no reflection on Ms. Horan McLean. The language of the bylaw is plain and says a member of the Select Board, not a designee. I think that having a serving member adds accountability to the PAA since a current member would be responsible to the voters for their actions on the PAA and I believe that was the intent of the bylaw as well. As Ms. Horan McLean correctly pointed out last night, the PAA has no role in recommending the project for qualification as a 40R project or formulating an amended bylaw. Their responsibility begins when the developer submits a plan for review. Under the bylaw, the PAA has the sole authority for review and approval of the development plans.
I am not in favor of this project because I believe that the development will overburden the infrastructure in the area. The developer could still go forward with the project as a 40B development. MGL Chapter 40B section 21 allows developers to bypass local zoning and planning boards by applying to the state for a permit. The bypassing of local zoning is allowed as long as a certain percentage of the housing is "affordable" as defined by state regulation. So this development could still be built under 40B and still create infrastructure problems for the town. Having a 40R designation would provide some funds to ameliorate the impacts, but not sufficient funds to cover most of the impacts to roads, schools, water and sewer systems. So the dilemma is, do you go along with trying to get a 40R designation and get some funds for impacts, or do you force the developer to try to go the 40B route, possibly still have the project developed and not get anything. I am willing to take my chances that the 40B project may not go forward, rather than definitely have a 40R project go forward.
There are several questionable areas for this project as a 40R project and it may not even pass muster with the DHCD.
The first is that is does not meet the density requirements. In order to show the required density of 20 units per acre for most of the townhouse units, the "zone" is the size of the building foundation. This is 162 units on 40 plus acres. A true look at the project is that the density is 4 per acre, not 20.
The purpose of a smart growth district is to encourage development were infrastructure already exists. That is not the case for this project. The infrastructure of roads, sidewalks, etc. would have to be built to support the project. this is the definition from the MGL 40R section 2

“Eligible locations”, (1) areas near transit stations, including rapid transit, commuter rail and bus and ferry terminals; (2) areas of concentrated development, including town and city centers, other existing commercial districts in cities and towns, and existing rural village districts; or (3) areas that by virtue of their infrastructure, transportation access, existing underutilized facilities, and/or location make highly suitable locations for residential or mixed use smart growth zoning districts.

I contend that the Reed Road location meets none of the three criteria.
What do you think about this project? Tell us in comments below
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Comments and this blog

There has been a pretty good debate going on in comments about the method I have chosen to allow comments on this blog. I allow anyone to comment and in any manner. They can comment under their name, they can comment under a pseudonym or they can comment anonymously. Unfortunately the cover of anonymity gives some people license to be nasty, engage in personal attacks, spread deliberate misinformation and many other unsavory practices. Still I have made a choice to allow unmoderated discussion. I do receive an email of each comment that is made. I have a choice to allow it to remain or to delete it. I don't delete very many.
Here is my feeling about the comments,...

...I think most people are smart enough to decide for themselves whether or not a comment is credible. Certainly, if the comment is anonymous and does not back up a charge with some sort of verifiable fact or reasonable argument for the position taken , you should ignore it. I do. I have found that to be the best way to reduce the number of stupid, nasty comments. If the comments are just ignored, the commenter quickly tires of the exercise and stops commenting because they are not getting any reaction which is, I believe, what they want. I could just delete them but then I get a bunch of comments that say, How come you deleted my comment? In fact, I get those "How come" comments even when I don't delete the comment. Go figure. On the other hand, I get many anonymous comments that are thoughtful, provide good arguments and even some good information. That is what I would like to preserve if I can.
Blogs are a new and evolving media and there are not a lot of good options for moderating the comments. I don't have the time or inclination to spend my time reviewing and passing judgment on what others say here. That does allow some people to take advantage of their anonymity to be rude idiots and I have come to accept that as part of the blog. You may disagree with that decision. All I can offer is that we each have to make the decisions on what you choose to lend credence to and what to reject.
Just to give you an idea of the relatively small numbers of people who read here, I get about 400 unique visitors a day. In the past week, I have had 2,564 unique visitors including one from Ambato, Tungurahua, Ecuador (searching for Cristine Scabbia)and one from Tysoe, Warwickshire, United Kingdom (searching for wind turbines in Dartmouth).
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Susan Tedeschi- Rock Me Right

Tedeschi rocks
You Tube embed after the jump


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Public Hearing on Reed Road 40R project

There will be a public hearing on Monday, April 13th at 6:30PM at the Select Board meeting for the proposed amendment to the Lincoln Park Smart Growth Overlay District(LPSGOD).You can find the zoning bylaw for LPSGOD here(MS Word format). The amendment would add land at 449 Reed Road. The land in question is 1.4 acres identified as Map 48,lot 11 and 36+ acres identified as Map 52, lot 8 on the Assessor's records. If you wish to speak in favor or in opposition of the development please attend this hearing. You will be allowed to speak.
This project is proposed ...

...under Mass General Law, Chapter 40R I have quite a few questions about this project. The first is whether or not amendment of the LPSGOD requires Town Meeting approval. I also think it requires application to and approval by the state Department of Housing and Community Development as well as the LPSGOD Plan Approval Authority. I hope to get these and other questions answwered Monday at the hearing
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Friday-Bob Dylan

I am traveling today and for the weekend. Will post when I can.

Bob Dylan in 1969 on the Johnny Cash Show "Livin' the Blues"


Who is Johnny Cash? He's the original rap star. Say a song with stand-up bass and slide guitar.

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Interim doing a terrific job!

I want to take a moment to let you know that I feel that Mr. Iacaponi has really stepped up and is doing a terrific job as interim Executive Administrator. That's on top of getting a very challenging FY2010 budget ready for the Select Board, the Finance Committee and Town Meeting.
Most are little things but they are greatly appreciated. Things like getting my Select Board meeting packet on Thursday, instead of Friday. That gives me Friday to contact town departments if I have questions. Not a big thing but really very helpful.
Ed has been trying to grease the wheels of government to get the utilities run to the new health clinic, the Bullard Center, at the Council on Aging and has made some progress.
Some of you may have been wondering ...

... how things were going while we search for a new Executive Administrator. I'd like to report that they seem to be just fine and thank Mr. Iacaponi for his good work.
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Town receives $870,381 in Chapter 90 funding

The town has been informed that the town's portion the state's $150 million Chapter 90 funds will be $870,381 for FY 2010 which begins on July 1, 2009. The town's 10 year Chapter 90 contract was signed ...

... in 2008 and is posted at the Executive Office of Transportation (EOT) website
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Community Preservation hearing on April 14th

There will be a public hearing on April 14th @ 7PM for review and comment on the 5 projects under consideration for funding under the Community Preservation Act in the 2010 budget cycle. The sponsors of the projects will present their proposals and take..

... questions from the Community Preservation Commission and the public.
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Regionalization summit tomorrow at 6PM

Dartmouth Town Hall will host a second regionalization summit tomorrow at 6PM in the Select Board meeting room. The meeting is open to the public.

SREPDD will be reporting on a survey of town's interested in regional services.
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New faces on Select Board and School Committee

Mr. Watson, Ms. Stone and Mr. Greg Jones were elected to the Select Board and School Committee yesterday. Curt Brown's blog has the vote totals here. The Standard Times article about the election result is here. Congratulations to the winners. Thanks to all those who ran. The town was given a difficult choice ...

...with so many good people in the contests. Thank you to the incumbents for your service.
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This brought back some memories

Many of the great physical comics of the 20th century on this video.
No Laurel and Hardy though. Can't cover them all anyway.
You Tube embed after the jump

Maybe someone was trying to tell me something about this political season when they sent this, but I just liked remembering the old time comics.
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Info on blue recycle bins

I got this email from Michelle at the DPW about blue recycling bins

Good Morning Mr. Trimble:

Thank you for the cc.
Just a note on the blue bins, the DPW does not charge for replacement bins...we trade out the broken bins when our customers bring them back. Also, new residents are not charged for the first two bins. We do charge for additional bins.

Thanks again for your PR work with cleanup day, much appreciated,
Michelle D.

Some residents had asked about the policy on giving out bins and so here it is.
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Governor Patrick at Town Hall meeting tonight

From Blue Mass Group blog. Governor Patrick will appear at a Town Hall forum tonight at 8PM. THe event will be streamed live on the internet. Go to this link for details and a link to the TV station streaming the feed
There is a lot to do in this year's state and federal budgets, ...

... I hope that Gov. Patrick and Pres. Obama get out and bring their side to the people. This is a start for our Governor. He needs to do more of it.
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New polling places for precincts 1, 3 and 4

From Curt Brown's Standard Times blog

There are three new polling places for this year's elections.

Precincts 1 and 3, which formerly voted at Fire District 3's station on Cross Road, are now voting at the Dartmouth Bible Church, 52 Morton Ave.

View Larger Map

Precinct 4, which formerly voted at Smith Mills Church Hall, 11 Anderson Way, moves to The Cedars, 628 Old Westport Road.

View Larger Map
Voters in Precinct 2 will continue to use the Smith Mills Church Hall.

Those are the only changes.

The polls open at 7AM and close at 8PM tomorrow Tuesday April 7th.
My preferences in this election are ...

... Diane Gilbert and Frank Gracie for Select Board. That's not news to those who read here frequently. It is pretty much over as far is campaigning goes. All camps will be trying to get out their vote tomorrow. I hope you will go to the polls and exercise your franchise.
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Women who rock - Dolores O'Riordan

The Cranberries - Zombie This Irish Band is a favorite from the 90's
You Tube embed after the jump


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Desolation Road- Dylan 1966

Got home from work at 9PM but it's still Friday. Here's Bob!
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Frank Gracie's statement

Hi Bill. The ST has refused to publish my candidate statement, now saying that they wanted the last week to be spent on support letters. If I had known this I of course wouldn't have sent mine in on Monday.
It is attached, so if you think it is worth displaying for folks to read I would appreciate it.
Thanks,
Frank
Here is Frank's statement

I am running for a seat on the Dartmouth Select Board because I believe that my skills, thought process, and prior town experience is the best match for what is currently needed in our town. I believe that with the hard work that has transpired we have turned a financial corner, but need to continue the process of bringing our future costs in line with our expected sustainable revenue. We can’t keep spending more than we have, and if we find ways to provide a better cost structure we won’t have to keep cutting employees and services. The taxpayer deserves the best value for what they spend.

The experience I have gained over the last 3 years serving on the Tax Classification Committee, the Budget and Revenue Task Force, and as chairperson of the Privatization Study Group has given me great insight into our town structure, including the “hows and whys” by which we do things. I believe I have already shown dedication to the town and the taxpayer, including leading the effort to get the split-tax implemented into our property tax structure. I also advocated for the Small Commercial Exemption to help our small businesses...

...as much as the law allows.

I support internal consolidation, streamlining for efficiencies, bulk purchasing for discounted costs, and adding in the benefit of volume by regionalization to help further. All avenues of saving money should be on the table, and thorough investigation should be done. We need to make sure we don’t get so dazed by the plusses of things that we get blind to the minuses.

As much as I don’t believe that privatization is the end-all to things, I do believe that it, as well as selective outsourcing, always need to be considered and looked at for an appropriate fit to our requirements. The Standard Times has criticized me on 2 occasions for making the suggestion that we look into “privatizing the library”, accusing me of “playing both sides of the street”. I explained my position to them at least 3 times, pointed out that what we looked at was outsourcing not privatization (big difference in amount of control retained), and that my committee’s first task was to do a triage on the 16 departments/services we had before us to see where options MIGHT be. With regard to the library we ran into a roadblock of getting all the specific information from LSSI, and suggested that the issuance of an RFP would get all the details on the table, nothing more, nothing less.

Let me assure you, the taxpayer, that as an engineer I always “play both sides of the street” until there is enough data to know which is the proper side to walk on. Isn’t it also a bit disingenuous to be criticized by an organization such as the Standard Times that has itself privatized and outsourced as many functions as it can? What’s wrong with us looking at similar options to help our bottom line? My first choice is to always keep something in house and make the costs competitive, but not looking to see what options there are is just going through the motions and does the taxpayer a disservice.

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Clean up with Dunkin Donuts

I got this email today from John Sloan at Dunkin Donuts. They are intersted in sponsoring clean up efforts. Here 's what he had to say.

William,
Was happy to speak with you on the phone. Just wanted to get the word out to you and your colleagues that eleven locally owned Dunkin Donuts in Dartmouth ,Westport and some stores in fall river are doing a month long recycling effort in our local community to celebrate earth day. We are looking for groups to do neighborhood clean ups and we want to be a sponsor for these events all month long. We can supply donuts and coffee ...

...and even have a relationship and agreement with Papa Johns pizza to supply free pizza for volunteers. We are doing a big push selling travel mugs and drink koozies at cost to reduce waste and even giving out free drinks on earth day. Wow! That will be interesting! We want the community to know we as a company care about the community we do business in and we want to sponsor any clean ups or recycling activities. So please put the word out and feel free to contact myself at any time or give out my number to interested parties and remember
" A Clean America Runs On Dunkin "
Have a Dunkerriffic day!

John Sloan
District Manager Dunkin Donuts
1-508-989-3505
mrdunkindonut@comcast.net

As I pointed out in this post,the Dartmouth DPW is sponsoring a clean up day on April 26th. If your group is going to go out and clean up, contact Mr. Sloan and get everyone started with some coffee.
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School declines $600,000 grant

Last year to much fanfare, the school department announced that they had applied and been selected to receive a $600,000 grant over five years that would be used for advanced placement (AP) teachers, courses and students. These teachers and students are the best and brightest in our schools. These AP students often get the short end of the stick since there are no mandates to fund their need for greater challenges.
Now comes word that the school department has had to decline the grant because they could not reach an agreement with the DEA, the teacher’s union, on the terms that would have paid a handful of AP teachers a bonus. The issues seem to be that the bonus includes a type of merit based pay and that the lower grade teachers would not be eligible for that bonus. The argument was that the lower grade teachers had laid the groundwork for these AP students to excel. The union would not agree to what was considered as a potential change in working conditions, so the grant will not be accepted. This grant would have been used for advanced training of teachers, merit pay for those AP Teachers who increased AP participation and scores, and a small stipend for students who passed the AP exam.
I feel this is an example ...

...of what is amiss in our schools. Much is said about how this is all about the kids. In this case, I find an underlying agenda that is working against our kids, our best teachers, and, I would argue, the best interests of the community. Money that is there for the taking and the best students will not benefit from it. I hope that the school administration and School Committee will consider ways to prevent this from happening in the future when negotiating a new contract this year.
Perhaps Dartmouth should begin looking at a charter school where innovative methods can be tried. We have the physical plant in place to do it with two shuttered buildings. Competition for funding from charters may be the incentive needed to get the focus on the students and the best options for their education.
I am sure that once again, I will be castigated for criticizing the schools. However I hope that parents, the School Committee and the school administration will join me in decrying the loss of this grant. I fail to see how this is good news for our students in any way. If it is truly about the kids, those kids would be enjoying the benefit of this grant.

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MOB file in advance of tonight's Finance Committee meeting

Mr. Lynam has been working diligently, as always, to keep this file updated. A daunting task around budget time as new information arrives daily. This is a link to the newest update dated 4/1/09. As always, I have deleted previous version from the server as my storage space is limited and it is a large file.

Previous posting links to the MOB file are now inoperative. As I am typing this, it occurs to me that I should rename the file and save the latest version to the server and then use that name in all future posts. That way the links would all work and only the latest would be available. I'll go that route in the future.
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Capital Improvements recommendation

The 2010 capital improvement plan with recommendations from the committee has been forwarded to me. You can find the file in MS Excel format here. Middle school lockers made the list ...

...along with boiler upgrades for the schools. Snow plows, police cars and a hydraulic rock buster attachment were recommended. Building maintenance or improvement includes the Old Town Hall, a large sprung building for the DPW and the Bullard Wellness Center. The total for all recommended projects is $2.7 million dollars
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