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Date: 5/16/2022
WARREN - About 130 residents filled the Quaboag Regional Middle/High School auditorium for the Annual/Special Town Meeting on May 14.
Residents cast their votes with a clicker that had a button for ‘yes’ and a button for ‘no.’ All of the results were displayed on the screen, revealing if the votes passed or not.
Annual Town Meeting
Article 1 pertained to hearing reports of town officers, and all standing and special committees. The motion passed.
Article 2, which was approved by the town, authorizes the Board of Selectmen to appoint all necessary town officers not previously chosen by ballot.
Article 3, which residents approved, focused on amending the hourly rates schedule on the Compensation Plan. This changes the pay scale of people in town. David Dufrense, chairman of the Board of Selectmen said, “This is to invest in our employees to stay here,” rather than going to work for another town that pays more. Article 4 passed, which will change the following Grades: PW-1 [Facilities custodian] to BM-1; Wastewater Treatment Plan (WWTP) assistant chief operator Grade PW-5; WWTP chief operator Grade PW-6; to pay accordingly. Dufrense explained that this is simply a name/title change.
Article 5, which was approved by the town, will move the Council on Aging director from Grade A-1 to Grade A-2 and will also raise and appropriate compensation for fiscal year 2023 (FY23).
Similarly, residents approved Article 6, to move the Board of Health secretary from Grade C-3 to Grade A-1 and to raise and appropriate $3,763 for compensation for FY23.
Article 7 moved the Highway secretary from Grade C-2 to Grade C-3, increased hours from 18 to 19 hours, and raised and appropriated compensation for FY23. Jeremy Olson, highway surveyor, said they should compensate Shelley Davis, secretary, fairly for all of the work she does. The motion was passed by the town.
Articles 8 and 9 will add two new positions to the Highway Department. One is a new position of Highway PW-2 and to raise and appropriate $46,729.44 for compensation for FY23, and a new part-time position of Highway PW-1 and to raise and appropriate $11,288 for compensation for FY23. Both motions passed.
Article 10 was not approved by the town. The article, if passed, would have added a new position of Facilities Maintenance Manager Grade BM-2 to the Wage Compensation Plan along with raising and appropriating $50,112 for FY23.
Residents voted to approve Article 11, to add a new position for a Council of Aging Van Driver and to raise and appropriate $12,480 compensation for FY23.
Article 12 focused on adding a new position of Cemetery Secretary Grade C-2 at $16 an hour, 10 hours a week, and to raise and appropriate $8,320 compensation for FY23. The motion failed, with 81 people voting no, 35 yes.
Article 13 also failed, pertaining to the creation of a Communicable Disease Account.
Article 14, which was approved by the town, will raise and appropriate, transfer from available funds, or borrow a sum of money to fix the salary and compensation of all elected officers of the town. This will begin July 1, 2022.
Article 15 passed with a majority vote to raise and appropriate, transfer from available funds, or borrow a sum of $126,200 to finance the operations of the Sanitary Landfill Enterprise Fund for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2022.
Article 16 focused on raising and appropriating, or transferring from available funds, the sum of $791,013 to finance the operations, commissioners’ salaries and debt service of the Sewer Enterprise fund. The motion passed.
Voters approved Article 17, by accepting accounts in trust, the income of which is to be expended for the perpetual care maintenance of 10 burial plots at Pine Grove Cemetery.
Article 18 passed, authorizing the Treasurer to enter into compensating balance agreements during FY23.
Article 19, accepting funds made available from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for highway projects approved by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Highway Division, was approved.
Article 20 was also approved, to raise and appropriate, transfer from available funds, or borrow a sum of $125,000 to a Capital Stabilization Fund for the first installment to purchase a 2023 Western Star 47X Single Axle Truck. Olson said they haven’t purchased something like this in 22 years.
Article 21 passed, to raise and appropriate, transfer from available funds, or borrow a sum of $200,000 to be put in a Capital Stabilization Fund for a first installment to replace Engine 1 within a three-year period.
Similarly, Article 22 pertained to putting $75,000 in a Capital Stabilization Fund for a first installment to replace self-contained breathing apparatus’ (SCBA) packs and bottles within a two-year period. The current SCBAs will be reaching the end of life in 2025. The town voted to approve this article.
Article 23 required and received a ? vote to amend the town’s zoning bylaws Section 3.2 Schedule of Use Chart and Section 16 Wind Energy.
Article 24 passed, to impose a lien on real property for costs incurred by the town for Commercial Wind Energy Facility Decommissioning Fees.
Article 25 referred to the Building Department and will raise the amount authorized to be expended to $35,000 with any balance in excess of $1,000 remaining in said fund at close of the fiscal year to be returned to the General Fund. The motion passed.
Article 26 allows the Board of Selectmen to have custody of the Old Town Hall, located at 1 Milton O Fountain Way. This article required a ? vote and passed with 61 people voting yes, 6 no.
Article 27 was approved by the town, to raise and appropriate $523,218 to fund the operating assessment of the Quaboag Regional School District for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2022.
Article 28 passed, to amend the Personnel Bylaws Section 8 Holidays to include the state mandate for the Juneteenth holiday. This holiday is observed on June 19 of each year.
Article 29 was a request for Annual Town Meeting to take place on any Saturday in May after the Annual Town Election. The Board of Selectmen said by hosting town meetings on a weekend, they believe there is more participation.
Warren resident Suzanne Ramsey disagreed and said that people do not want to attend these long meetings on a weekend. She made a motion to amend the original article and requested to return to what they used to have - town meetings on the second Tuesday of each May, after the Annual Town Election. The motion was seconded and passed with a vote of 48 yes, 11 no.
Special Town Meeting
The town voted on 11 warrant articles during Special Town Meeting.
Article 1, which was passed by the town, is a transfer from available funds or borrowing a sum of $50,000 to pay down principal on debt issued for a street light project pursuant to Article 1 of the November 5, 2015, Special Town Meeting. Now that the motion passed, the debt is fully paid off.
Article 2 was a vote to reduce the FY22 Quaboag Regional School District assessment by $91,719 for FY21 State Aid Transportation excess reimbursement in accordance with the vote of the June 23, 2020, Annual Town Meeting. The article passed.
Article 3, which also passed, focused on raising, appropriating, transferring from available funds or borrowing a sum of $52,000 to purchase and equip a new police cruiser. Police Chief Gerald Millette, said this will replace the existing cruiser, as it has a lot of miles and needs a lot of work done.
Article 4, which was approved by the town, will raise and appropriate, transfer from available funds or borrow a sum of $6,000 to purchase two sets of turnout gear, helmets and boots for new members of the fire department.
Article 5 was a vote to raise and appropriate, transfer from available funds, or borrow a sum of $11,500 to cover the cost of the fireworks and expenses related to the fireworks display. The town voted to approve this article.
Article 6, which also passed, was a vote to raise and appropriate, transfer from available funds or borrow a sum of $12,687.20 to purchase a lawn mower. This article was put forth by the Highway Department.
Article 7, the transferring of $17,618.25 from the Highway Equipment Fund Account to the Highway Surplus and Auction Fund Account, was approved by the town.
Article 8 was a vote to raise and appropriate, transfer from available funds, or borrow a sum of $46,723.21 to fund the snow and ice deficit. The motion passed.
Article 9, which was approved by the town, will raise and appropriate, transfer from available funds, or borrow a sum of $4,350 to the Council of Aging expense line item to pay expenses through June 2022.
Article 10 was a vote to raise and appropriate, transfer from available funds, or borrow a sum of $8,064.50 to pay the remaining tuition assessment for a Warren student attending Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School. The town voted to approve this article.
Lastly, Article 11 was passed and will raise and appropriate, transfer from available funds, or borrow a sum of $50,000 for office improvements and related expenses for the Shepard Building, including but not limited to flooring, upgraded office furniture, painting, replacement of window shades and filing cabinets.