These are unofficial results. The Town Clerk will have the official results.
The warrant for the Town Meeting can be found at this link.
http://www.town.dartmouth.ma.us/Pages/DartmouthMA_Clerk/TMDocs/ATMwarrant060110.pdf
There was a quorum of 204 Town Meeting members to open the meeting. This number is a shame. There are over 360 elected representatives to the Town Meeting.
Article 1 was withdrawn
Article 2 CPC budget passed unanimously.
Article 3 CPC article $688K for Audobon Stone Barn project passed with 6 opposed.
Article 4 CPC article $75K to preserve town records passed unanimously.
Article 5 CPC article $46K to by land at Russel's Mill's Road northwest of the Paskamansett bridge passed with 5 opposed.
The regular Town Meeting was suspended and a Special Town Meeting commenced
The warrant for the Special Town Meeting can be found here.
http://www.town.dartmouth.ma.us/Pages/DartmouthMA_Clerk/TMDocs/STMwarrant060110.pdf
The first four articles were financial housekeeping and passed unanimously.
Article 5 transfered and designated the land between Southworth Libraray and Cushman school as a public park. It passed with 12 opposed.
Article 6 removed term limits for Waterways Commissioners and passed with two against.
Article 7 was amended to increase the printed amount and number of police radios to include 3 for the Emergency Response department. The total number of radios increased to 67 and the cost to $127K. It was accepted with 1 against.
Article 8 established a full day kindergarten stabilization fund and appropriated $50K to it from the school budget. It passed with 2 opposed.
The Special Town Meeting dissolved having completed all business and the annual Town Meeting resumed
Article 6 of the Annual Town Meeting CPC article $143K for Dartmouth Community Park created by article 5 of the Specila Town Meeting passed with 5 opposed
Atricle 7 CPC article for $30K agricultural restriction on the Dominican Sisters farm was withdrawn
Article 8 CPC article $300K for restoration work at the Dartmouth YMCA passed 180-24.
Article 9 funding the Town Clerk's salary passed with 3 opposed
Article 10 the FY2011 budget was passed over for the moment
Article 11 funding the Water Enterprise passed without opposition
Article 12 funding the Sewer Enterprise paseed unanimously
Article 13 funding the Waterways Enterprise passed unanimously
Article 14 Senoir Social Dat program funding passed with none opposed
Article 15 Solid Waste Enterprise passed. One in opposition
Article 10 approving the town FY2011 operating budget passed without opposition.
The Town meeting then adjourned for lunch
more after the jump
Article 16 transferred $272K to the school department for full day kindergarten startup costs.Two opposed
Article 17 provided $260K for an elevator and handicapped access to Cushman School passed, 4 opposed.
Article 18 allows parking lot resurfacing without Planning Board action. Passed with 1 against
Article 19 changing the parking requirements in the Waterways Overlay District passed without opposition
Article 20 allwoing 3 story buildings on Faunce Corner Road north 195 passed 141-36.
Article 21 creating a Municipal Wind turbine bylaw was passed over for the moment
Article 22 creating the position of Director of Development passed unanimously
Article 23 authorizing expenditure of funds previously appropriated for water supply exploration passed unaopposed
Article 24 on funding the Disabilities Commission was withdrawn.
Article 21 Municipal Wind Turbine bylaw passed 134-42 with the amendment that the turbines must be on town owned land, not leased land.
Article 25 petitioning the General Court for a Special Act creating the Lincoln Park Improvement district passed.
The Town Meeting having no other business adjourned and dissolved.
What do you think about the results?
There seemed to be little disgreement among the Town Meetin members in attendance. Do you have an complaints with the results.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Annual Town Meeting report
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21 comments:
Would it be possible to get a list of the non attendees for the TM so the town's people will know who not to vote for in the next election? One thing we know for sure is that precinct 10 was well represented.
Do we have the $300K that might have to be paid back to the state if Lincoln Park falls through? Hopefully it is being held in an account somewhere.
Article 3 CPC article $688K for Audobon Stone Barn project passed with 6 opposed.
I am a big supporter of our fincom and will follow their recommendation(s). As a town meeting member I just never seem to have the time to evaluate each article but the fincom spends numerous hours listening, appraising, discussing, and offering their opinion on how we should vote.
I did not need the fincom recommendation of DNR to understand that article 3 is intended to serve the needs of a few, at the expense of many.
I'm contemplating gathering signatures for a town referendum, as it applies to the sum of money approved by town meeting, for such a low priority use. Can Bill Trimble, or anyone offer to me any information that may give me some direction as to a referendum on this article?
Regards...........one of six.
I hope we name this park after one of our veterans. We have members of the military from Dartmouth who lost their lives in Vietnam, as well as other conflicts.
Can we do better than naming it after Ms. Stone or Ms. Olympio, which could well be the consideration?
Hey, Bill, don't you usually get the land before you set up a committee and print up fliers for money, to give out at Town Meeting, before the vote is even in whether to accept the land for a park, or not?
Isn't this a little like putting the cart before the horse, or was Ms. Stone that assured that it would all get passed? She looked pretty smug in the Chronicle picture.
I have to apologize: I did not mean to slight ANY of our military in any conflict. I'm the generation of the Vietnam War, and it is the first war that I have lost peers in.
Any member of the military deserves our respect and utmost thanks.
When this park is to be dedicated, I hope it is in honor of someone from our Town who has served for us.
To one of six, I bet you would have many supporters in your efforts.
I think many Town Meeting members are completely unable to see the long-term consequences of their votes or the financial irresponsibility of some of them, or both. I think Tuesday's Town Meeting is a perfect example of that.
It's far easier to let someone do the thinking for you rather than doing it for yourself. And, unfortunately, that is precisely what some people are counting on when they offer their expertise and arguments for certain articles.
I guess it doesn't hurt to be a "name" in town, either. People will always follow the Pied Piper if he or she is persuasive enough.
I agree with 3:45. Lara Stone knew all along that this would come fruitation way before TM. A couple of months ago she stated that we would get the park. I honestly believe that the whole reopening of Cushman was planned long ago. Why didn't they just leave the playground intact at the Cushman School when it closed knowing that it would be a matter of time before reopening it. Send the play equipment to Quinn and get a $300K playgound for pre school and FDK. Which by the way is not for all the FDK's at DeMello and Quinn.
Also did anyone noticed that there is land left near the Cushman School and the library for expansion? I would bet that there are plans to expand Cushman in the near future. I thought that this school would never open as an elementry school but only for FDK and preschool. Maybe that is the reason the Ms. Stone looks smug in the Chronicle picture.
Wait for the next chapter. Also keep in mind that TM voted on all these projects. With the economy being what it is now I agree that with 7:49 that article 3 is crazy. If you start a referedum I will be happy to sign it.
Precincts 9 and 10 are always well represented and come out in droves to vote.
North Dartmouth gets trampled on left and right. Yet, there are not the numbers from North Dartmouth when it is voting time.
THAT is a major factor in the consideration that South Dartmouth (Padanaram) gets: that part of town goes after what it wants and, with the numbers, has no problem pushing through agendas favoring it, or electing people from that area, most notably, Padanaram.
It's up to the voters in North Dartmouth to take back what is rightfully theirs, as well, and make a difference for their neighborhoods. Otherwise, we will continue to be dominated by a select few.
Yes, I agree. Where are all the town meeting members? The town meeting is not a true representation of the town, only precinct 9 & 10. Perhaps people in the north of town can't afford to take an unpaid day. Many members were missing.
North Dartmouth voters must get out and be counted. Don't complain if your town spends $700,000 on a 'stone house remodeling' project. YOU need to be at town meeting and volunteer for CPC positions.
Community preservation committee ( CPC ) was authorized by our Dartmouth town meeting to spend almost three quarters of a million dollars to restore an old stone barn, and rehab a tractor garage on property owned by the Massachusetts Audubon society. This restoration will allow a living area for the caretaker and his family.
Twenty five years ago, I spent time inside the old stone barn. This once in a life time visit convinced me that the stone barn is not worth fixing. If anything, the building should be fenced off and a large sign erected indicating DO NOT ENTER. Should the town meeting members have authorized the spending of 700,000 thousand dollars to rehab the buildings? Not at all. How many people will it serve, not more than five.
For some short money, a sheltered building could have been erected to serve the greater good and protect visitors from foul weather. There is a large unoccupied home at this location. The M.A.S. Are planning to have the home sectioned for offices space and stay overs, but this is not for the general public. No funding has been approved to operate this vacant home.
In the long run, Dartmouth town meeting members have screwed up, didn't listen to the Fincom members. In this town meeting members opinion, and as it relates to this project, CPC money is not being used for the greater good. It's time to do something about this. I'm researching several option in an attempt to discontinue the CPC and it's operations. When initiated, the CPC was intended for the purpose of preserving land, but like most programs it is becoming abused by a few, at the expense of many tax payers. To those appointed members of the CPC, who voted for this expense, shame on you. Memberships must have known that this hoax would cause people to open their eye's. Congratulations, you won this battle, but this is not over, not by a long shot.
The Town Meeting system is a disgrace. There is NO ACCOUNTABILITY on these people. It's time to change the town government. 204 of 360! Bill is right, the Town Meeting members should be embarrased and I mean ALL town meeting members.
The town is in financial turmoil and we get
$688K passed
$75K passed
$46K passed
$127K passed
$50K passed
$143K passed
$30K passed
$300K passed
You get the point. Do ANY town meeting members really pay attention?!?!?!
Spend Spend Spend, we are printing money in Dartmouth. Better hope it gets REALLY windy and we hit the lottery with the money printers, oops I mean wind turbines.
There is no greater cause then when a man/women offers their life for the life of another. This act can not be equaled by any other cause. Military warriors die in battle, some people die during the attempted rescue of another. Some develop cures for a deadly illness.
I often wonder why public schools are named for certain people. I would like to provide the name of Dartmouth schools, maybe someone can explain why the school is named in their honor.
Potter school, who is Potter?
Gidley school, who is Gidley?
Quinn school, who is Quinn?
DeMello school, who is DeMello?
Cushman school, who is Cushman?
Please, offer any information as it relates to these names, what did they do to deserve such an honor.
Faster than a speeding bullet.
More powerful than a locomotive.
Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Look! Up in the sky!
It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's an Override!
North Dartmouth can't afford to keep letting a select few in the more affluent part of town to run the show. The writing has been on the wall for a long time now. As long as North Dartmouth continues to be complacent and its residents do not turn out to vote, then nothing will change and that select few will do exactly as they please for whomever they please, and you can be sure it won't be for the North side of town.
I think the CPC should pay off its debt first. That would be the fiscally responsible thing to do. The FinCom suggests just that, but who at Town Meeting listens?
Allow me to expose Town meeting for what it is, or what it can become.
The annual town meeting in June is the most important meeting, as it relates to the new fiscal year 2011. July 1 through June 30. This annual meeting is always conducted on a week day, starting around 9:00 AM.
As it pertains to town meeting member attendance, unless one is retired, a school teacher, self employed, homeless, or have a job where the boss will give you the day off with pay, a town meeting member can not afford to attend the annual town meeting.
The annual town meeting has always been well represented by town meeting members from precinct 9, 10. These two precincts, better known as padanaram, or the village people, are well informed, highly educated, retired business owners, boat owners, farmers, who live in a secluded private estate, or simply put are more involved in town affairs or members of committee's such as DNRT/Dartmouth Trust, the CPC/Community Preservation Committee and other committee's.
Geographically speaking, this area of town is much more involved with how, where, and when our monies shall be allocated. Why is it that more town meeting members from precinct 9, and 10 show up at the annual town meeting is based on all of the above mentioned.
Unless our annual town meeting becomes more user friendly, or made available for all town meeting members, and not a select few, all projects of funding interest will be controlled by the same two precincts, just as they have determined who will be elected, or reelected.
The annual town meeting must be changed to a Saturday/ Sunday or evenings only.
Most of the school names were before my time but I can tell you a little about James "Jay" Quinn. I know that he served and was a leader on the School Committee for many years. He was also deeply involved with the youth of this town for many years. I had the good fortune of having him for a Little League basketball coach. He left a lasting impression on me as a man who was patient, caring and intelligent. You knew he was always watching so you didn't dare act up in the first place. It's hard to describe but he could elicit the best from kids without ever having to raise his voice or be a disciplinarian.
My fondest memory of him was when he took me along with his nephew to one of my first Red Sox games, then out for spaghetti and meatballs after the game. It was the kind of opportunity that a kid like me didn't get often. The kind of kid coming from a family of modest means who actually slept with his baseball glove.
Jay Quinn was also there for me when I needed some help as a teenager. I don't know what his accomplishments were that earned him a name of a school but when it came to the youth of this town,he was a man of exceptional character.
Hold on 7:26am,
Precincts 9 and 10 are two completely different animals. Nine comprises the "villagers" as you call them but once you cross that bridge, you're not in Padanaram anymore Dorothy. Both precincts turn out well at the voting booths but the similarity ends there. Ten is far more conservative and responsible than nine. They remind me more of the people of Westport where folks are more self reliant and less needy. You seem to follow elections pretty well so you must remember when precinct ten saved this town from the folly of a 26% property tax increase that actually made our fiscal problems worse.
Mr. Walker,
Thank you for the information concerning James "Jay" Quinn. I'm sure he is everything you said he is.
I'm trying to find out what set him, and the others, apart from those who may have died serving thier country or accomplished the common good.Something that set them apart from others. Many people serve on elected town boards, but as you mentioned, you don't know what his accomplishments were that earned him a name of a school but when it came to the youth of this town,he was a man of exceptional character
To "One of Six", I am a town meeting member from precinct 7, have my masters degree and am a full time employee that used a vacation day to attend town meeting. I also know plenty of others in precincts 1,3,4,5,6 & 8 with various backgrounds. They are accountants, lab technicians, Truck Drivers, Real Estate Agents, Insurance Agents, electricians, Dr.'s, Lawyers, business owners, waitresses, students from UMASS Dartmouth, retired people, people with children, people without, etc. They were all there on Tuesday. Town Meeting was well represented.
Stop complaining and start participating.
I bet you are...........dollars to donuts you approved taking 750,000 from CPA to fix up the old stone barn at 780 Horseneck Road with out looking at the project. The fincom did the study and DNA but the town meeting members, except for six, didn't vote to approve this funding. What the S.A.S. didn't tell us is the building will be used to house three members of one family and not the general public to hide if it should rain.
ALLOW ME TO SAY LOWED AND CLEAR. HAVE AN ARTICLE PRESENTED AT TOWN MEETING FPR THE CPC TO PAY OFF THEIR DEBT, AND THEN ELIMINATE THE CPC.
This money could then be used to serve all the town tax payers and not just a few.
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