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Annual Town Meeting a positive affair for Hampden

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



HAMPDEN The voters of Hampden approved a total of 32 items between a Special Town Meeting and their Annual Town Meeting on April 28.

The Special Town Meeting, consisting of seven articles, took place before the main meeting and covered the rest of Fiscal Year 2008's needs. Academy Hall will be receiving funds to upgrade insulation in its attic, the police department will be getting a new camera/security system, the Town House will be receiving a new air conditioning system, new carpeting in the library, updated men's and women's restrooms and some fresh paint, the fire department will soon have new fire house doors and a total of $25,400 will be transferred from available funds to the Stabilization Fund.

Once the main meeting was opened, moderator Richard Patullo read through the proposed FY09 budget line for line, with residents asking questions whenever they needed answers. One issue of fiscal debate were the operating expenses for Parks and Recreation.

In FY08, operating expenses totaled $4,100. For FY09, the department asked for $11,103, which will help cover the cost of the spray park at Hampden Memorial Park. One resident asked if the summer camp that meets there should cover some of the cost, seeing as they were the only ones who could use the park between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.

A representative of the Parks and Recreation Department said the summer camp showed a profit last year and they plan to use that money to purchase more features for the spray park. He agreed that a percentage of the bills for the park should be covered by the camp during its hours of usage, but that the bills "should not rest on the campers themselves."

Additionally, the interest on short term loans increased from $2,500 in FY08 to $10,000 in FY09.

"In the past, we've used $2,500 as a basis," Tracy Sicbaldi, the town's treasurer, explained. "We usually get a revenue anticipation note between $8,800 and $9,900 after our run over, usually on the snow and ice removal account."

Sicbaldi said a revenue anticipation note is issued when there is a short cash flow problem during a specific time and that the town can borrow against the note before taxes are received.

"The town normally has just one loan per fiscal year," she told Reminder Publications, "usually every December. We're short then because we receive tax payment in November but don't get them again until February."

Once the residents' concerns were addressed, they voted to approve the budget.

Revolving funds for the Board of Assessors, the Board of Health, the Building Department, the Library Trustees, the Council on Aging and the Tax Collector were all approved as well.

The Transfer Station enterprise fund, approved at the town's special town meeting last fall, received a total of $100,000.

Voters approved of three Community Preservation Committee projects (a housing needs study, the painting of Academy Hall and a payment for a conservation restriction on 49 acres of Pine Mountain). The last payment of a conservation restriction on the Kibbe Farm parcel was also approved.

Article 20, which appropriated $5,000 for the continuation of the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program at Thornton W. Burgess Middle School, was approved.

Voters passed Article 21, an amendment to the town's general bylaws which will regulate and control unregistered and disassembled vehicles to protect the views along publicly traveled ways. The bylaw will be enforced by the police department, the building inspector's office and the Board of Selectmen.

The parking of vehicles on public roadways was discussed in Article 23. The approved article stated that the police chief could declare a parking ban any time between Nov. 15 and April 15 due to weather conditions.

The rezoning of the Chapdelaine property at 37 Allen St. from partially business and partially residential to wholly business was approved by voters.

Five articles, from both meetings, were moved to no action by town representatives. Article 28, which called for a reduction of the tax rate, was one of these articles. The Board of Selectmen said this topic would be readdressed in the fall before the tax rate is set.