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Date: 5/16/2023
MONSON — At the May 9 Select Board meeting, Steve Slozak of the Summerfest Committee requested the use of Veterans Field on July 4 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for Summerfest.
Slozak also requested a $4,000 gift from the town to help defray costs for police details for the fireworks and other costs of Summerfest. The funding was approved by the board.
Summerfest is nonprofit that hosts a family-friendly fireworks show and Fourth of July event yearly, with bands, food, beverages, a parade, and vendors. Information about the fireworks and July 4 events can be found at monsonsummerfestinc.org.
Caroline Horachek from First Church of Monson came before the board to discuss the annual townwide tag sale the church puts on, this year on Saturday, Sept. 2, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Horacheck received the approval of the board to go ahead with planning and organizing including contacting any boards or departments necessary prior to the event.
The board approved a request to plant a tree at the Soldiers Monument to replace the large pine tree that was taken down by the tornado in 2011. This tree has been replaced with a fake tree since the original was destroyed and there was a request to plant a new tree to become what the original tree had been, particularly to follow the tradition of decorating the tree for the holidays.
Public Comment
Several residents appeared to comment on the Town Meeting on May 8.
Resident Robert Caddy appeared to thank the community for coming to Town Meeting. He appealed in his speech to the residents of town to come together, move forward, and make Monson the great community it has the potential to be.
Appearing in his role as town moderator, Peter Matrow spoke, thanking the department heads, town administrator and finance director, Select Board, and everyone who came together to make the annual town meeting happen.
Matrow said it was “The smoothest it has gone in my history of the budget process, kudos to everybody in the town departments.”
Matrow then spoke as a resident, stepping out of his moderator role, saying, “I witnessed something and it bothered me, because the same thing happened to me. A gentleman came in to pay his taxes on a Wednesday at noon and the office was closed.”
“I would like to see the tax collector window open five days a week, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.,” for those people who found it important to pay in person, Matrow said.
Solicitation Policy
Board Chair Pat Oney said that at the March 28 meeting, the board voted to accept additional language to amend the nomination papers policy.
According to the minutes of that meeting, “Paragraph one of the policy incorporates M.G.L. chapter 54 section 65, in part, and that states no person shall be allowed to collect signatures upon petitions, referendum petitions, or nomination papers within [150] feet from the building entrance door to a polling place. This section also applies to early voting locations under section 25B while voting is being conducted.”
“Ms. Hull suggested clarifying with the town clerk if she needs to sign the nomination papers at the time they are taken out, because she can see that being a problem down the road,” according to the minutes.
Oney said she spoke to the town clerk recently about how they felt about the new language and if it was OK with them. Oney reported the clerk did have a problem with the added language, and said to Oney, “I consider the town clerk service window to be a public area and I do not think it is necessary to single out the town clerk’s process in the policy.”
Oney agreed, saying that the amendment to the policy is not required. The board voted to rescind the vote accepting the policy with additional language, and voted to accept the policy as originally written.
A motion was made by the board for Oney to draft a letter to be sent to Congressman Richard Neal (D-Springfield) to request his assistance with anything to do with the fire station building project including helping with funding.
The board agreed that after this letter was sent to Neal, they would then reach out to the offices of state Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton) and state Reps. Brian Ashe (D-Longmeadow), and Angelo Puppolo (D-Springfield) to request their help with the fire station project.