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| Elisabeth Hatch Staff Intern WILBRAHAM The town of Wilbraham will conduct its Annual Town Meeting on May 15 in Minnechaug Regional High school's auditorium. During the meeting voters will decide the fate of the 33 articles on the Annual Town Meeting warrant. "It's the most important meeting of the year," explained Town Administrator Bill Fogarty. The Concerned Citizens of Wilbraham(CCW) will host a meeting for anyone interested in learning more about the articles they will be voting on. "We [the CCW] like to review theses things. We make sure citizens are informed so that they can make informed votes," said Bob Page, president of the CCW. And Fogarty said there's some new things voters should be aware of. "There are a few articles that are on the warrant this year that aren't routine," he explained. Some of theses articles include creating a historic district on Main Street, looking into the impact the retiring Baby Boomers will have on the town, creating an Agricultural Commission, and replacing one of the town's biggest water mians. The CCW's meeting will take place at the Wilbraham Middle School on May 11 at 7 p.m. Page reflected that there are no real "hot items on the menu [warrant]" this year, but there are a few articles of interest. "Article 2, we believe, will probably have quite a bit of conversation, [and] Article 3 is going to have a significant impact to the town and its budget," Page said. Article 2, if passed, would establish a historic district on Main Street running from the intersection of Main Street and Tinkham Road north to the Old Meeting House at 450 Main St. "We've taken the least restrictive historic district route possible under state law. We're not restricting paint colors or anything like that," Fogarty said. "It's only to protect what you can see from the road." Article 3 is a petition requested by the CCW for the Board of Selectmen to look into the anticipated retirement of the Baby Boomer generation and the potential related costs to the town's taxpayers. "The Board of Selectmen agree with this petition, and we'd like to take this suggestion and do a comprehensive study on it," Fogarty said. Article 4 would create an Agricultural Commission for the town, and it would promote farming in the community. "We would like to form an Agricultural Commission, this is something very few communities have," Fogarty said. Article 5 is an amendment to the dog bylaw. "There are certain state laws that we can't enforce because we don't have the local bylaws. This would allow our dog catcher to enforce certain laws that need to be enforced," Fogarty explained. Article 22 would allow the town to replace a 70-year-old water main on the Mill Street bridge. "It's important that we do this now before the bridge opens again. We have requested a borrowing authority of $350,000," Fogarty said. The money will come from the Water Enterprise Fund, he added. "This meeting is important, and we continue to encourage people to attend," Fogarty said. |