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Date: 5/2/2023
MONSON — The annual and special Town Meeting warrant articles will be up for vote on Monday, May 8, at 7 p.m. at Granite Valley School, located at 21 Thompson St.
It should be noted that the warrant articles being voted on are without Finance Committee Recommendations.
The warrants for both the Annual and Special Town Meeting can be found in full at monson-ma.gov.
Annual Town Meeting
There are 30 articles to be voted on in the warrant for the annual Town Meeting. Some articles of note are reviewed below.
Article 10 sets the budget for the next fiscal year, which is defined as a period from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.
Article 11 is a petition was submitted by Anthony Allard and Karen O’Toole and signed by 11 voters. The petition asks for voter’s support for the work of the Special Commission Relative to the Seal and Motto of the Commonwealth with its intention of creating a state new seal and motto.
This article specifies that there has been a need identified for improvement in relations between “descendants of the colonial immigrants and the Native nations of the state,” and a resolution for this should be initiated by coming up with a new seal and motto that reflects respect for all who call the state their home. Particularly, recognizing the Native nations habitation on the state’s lands before Colonial settlers arrived.
As part of the article, the town clerk is to forward a copy of this resolution to the appropriate senators and representatives, requesting their support.
Article 12 is also a citizen’s petition, submitted by Roxanne Gunther and signed by 12 voters, which has three sections.
The first section asks that the Select Board be increased from three members to five members.
The second section requests that at the first annual town election to occur after the petition or act passes, the candidate with the highest number of votes will serve a three year term, the candidate receiving the second highest number of votes will serve a two-year term, and the candidate receiving the third highest number of votes will serve a one year term.
Thereafter, the article states, as the terms of Select Board members expire, successors shall be elected for three years.
The third section says that the act requested in the petition take effect upon it passing.
The petition is for the purpose of creating a more equitable voice among residents and allow for more diversity of thought within the board. Increasing the number of members would also allow for sub-committees to be formed.
Article 13, which calls for a debt exclusion for construction and rehabilitation of the fire station, is stated in the warrant as being “the first step in authorizing a debt exclusion for the purposes of constructing/rehabilitating the town’s Fire Station building.”
The town will be voting on whether to allow the raising of funds to build and renovate the fire station “by taxation, borrowing, or transfer from available funds, an appropriate sum of money to pay costs of contractors, materials, equipment, architectural engineering, and project manager’s services” including all other incidental costs.
In Article 26, the Community Preservation Committee is requesting $10,000 to buy a 7.5-acre piece of land that abuts the Welch Conservation Area on Reimers Road. The land contains endangered species habitat and priority habitat along Twelve Mile Brook.
A sum of $5,000 is for the purchase of the land, and $5,000 is for covering legal expenses and recording fees.
In Article 27, the Community Preservation Committee is requesting $15,000 to fund a survey and create a recordable plan for the Coen Conservation Area. The town owns an 80-acre piece of land that was gifted to the town and currently does not have a legal description or survey identifying the metes and bounds of the property. The survey would be necessary to properly steward the land by the CPC.
In Article 28, a sum of $27,500 is being requested by the Monson Home for the Aged to install Americans with Disabilities Act compliant doors at the Senior Center, to help seniors who have mobility issues access the entrances and exits.
The Conservation Commission in Article 29 is requesting $25,000 for two conservation restrictions, one at the Jean Porwoll Conservation Area on Reimers Road and Neiske Road, and the second for placement along the Cedar Swamp/Mitchel/Bailey conservation lands along Cedar Swamp Road.
The restrictions are being requested to hold these lands in protection indefinitely.
In Article 30 Town Clerk Mary Watson through the Community Preservation Committee is requesting $2,435 to preserve the meeting minutes of the Conservation Commission from when it started in 1966 through 1989.
Special Town Meeting
The Special Town Meeting warrant has 19 articles, and the full list of warrant articles is available at monson-ma.gov.
Article 1, submitted by the director of veterans benefits, the town will vote to appropriate a sum of money, which is subject to change throughout the year, for eligible service members, veterans, surviving spouses and family members who are entitled to receive monthly benefits.
The town is responsible for providing payment in full of these monthly benefits, and is reimbursed 75% of the benefit amount quarterly.
In Article 18, the Conservation Commission is requesting $25,000 for a conservation restriction, which protects lands indefinitely, on Booker parcels B and C on Hovey Road.
A sum of $20,000 will go towards an endowment for the conservation restriction and $5,000 will be used for parking and signage to make these lands accessible to the public.
For Article 19, the Highway Department is requesting $21,500 to restore and rehabilitate the granite pillars at the Bethany Road Cemetery as they have deteriorated enough to be a public hazard.