By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The Select Board approved the order of the Fall Town Meeting warrant in a 2-1 vote during an Oct. 28 meeting.
Select Board Chair Dick Dalton said local officials have received emails pertaining to the order of the seven-article warrant that will be voted on during Fall Town Meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 13, taking place at 7 p.m. in the Lynnfield Middle School auditorium. A quorum of 175 voters is needed in order for Fall Town Meeting to be conducted.
Board of Library Trustees Vice Chair Anne Malenfant requested that the $18.3 million Lynnfield Public Library renovation project, which will be appearing as Article 5, be voted on “early in the process.” While she said the MBTA Zoning Committee “did a great job” developing a warrant article to comply with the multifamily zoning requirements law, Malenfant said, “It could be contentious.”
“It could take a long time to talk through that,” said Malenfant. “The library has been before Town Meeting as a discussion. This is coming back with a revised plan and answering a lot of questions that the community has, so it is the more senior of the articles. We want the community to hear what changes have been made.”
In addition to asking that the $18.3 million library renovation project to be voted on before the MBTA zoning article, Malenfant also requested that the project be discussed before the $12,850,000 10-year road improvement project that will also be voted on at Fall Town Meeting. The roads program will be appearing as Article 6 on the warrant.
“We are asking that it go before the roads because one of the primary users of the library are young families,” said Malenfant. “Town Meeting can be challenging with the timing due to child care. We do very much appreciate that child care is being offered. We know that people can’t keep their kids there late, and they need to make a decision about when they are going to go. Giving those young families an opportunity to have their voices heard is really important relatively early in the order of the warrant.”
Board of Library Trustees Chair Joe Gallagher concurred with Malenfant’s viewpoint.
“As many of you know, I was involved with the new Lynnfield Library project and the Town Meeting vote,” said Gallagher. “One of the things I heard afterwards was we could have improved things. People have to show up at 7 p.m., they have babysitters and a lot of people have soccer games and different pickups. I know there is a lot of things going on with this Town Meeting, but I just wanted to pass on the feedback that I have heard from the community.”
Dalton said the MBTA zoning article should be voted on before the library renovation project and the roads improvement program because he is concerned about the town complying with the state law.
“If we don’t get a favorable vote that night, that has grave consequences,” said Dalton.
Dalton said he understands Malenfant and Gallagher’s wishes to accommodate young families with children. However, he said it’s also important for young families to vote on “all of the important issues” in addition to the library project.
“What is most important to me is that the MBTA be the first of the big three that I call it,” said Dalton.
Select Board member Phil Crawford concurred with Dalton’s viewpoint.
“The original ask was for a new library,” said Crawford. “This is a new ask and it should take some time to go over it for everybody who comes. The last time we had the library ask, we did offer babysitting. No one took us up on it and we had to cancel it because they weren’t using it. That really wasn’t a big issue at the time, and that was months of looking at a brand new building. I don’t think that has a lot to do with it.”
Crawford said the library project “should have a pretty big presentation.”
“We have to show everybody why this is good for the town and why going all in is the right way to do it,” said Crawford. “I would like to have as many people there as possible. A lot of townspeople of all ages are coming for the MBTA. We can move the roads program. It doesn’t really matter to me either way. I think a lot of people are coming for the roads program too because we have had (the Al Merritt Media and Cultural Center) full talking about roadways. The roadways are probably the number one thing that I hear about every year. It is very important. I do think we should have everybody vote on as many of these as possible. I do agree with the chairman that the MBTA come first. It is complicated, but I do think it is a very good solution. I don’t think that part of it will take a very long time. I would like to have as many people vote on all three of these as possible.”
Select Board member Alexis Leahy said it’s important for residents to vote on the three big warrant articles.
“I am hoping that folks are paying attention to all of the open forums and the advanced education that they can do for all three of these so that they are coming with some knowledge,” said Leahy. “With that said, I would support keeping the library and the roads together because of the tax implications. I think those back-to-back makes sense to me because they both have the same level of implication, but I would prefer having them earlier in the warrant because of the fact because this is another iteration of this project.”
In response to a question from Dalton, Leahy said she prefers voting on the library renovation project and the roads improvement program before the MBTA zoning article.
Dalton said he didn’t agree with Leahy.
After the discussion, Dalton and Crawford voted to have the MBTA zoning article appear as Article 4, the library renovation project appear as Article 5 and the roads improvement program appear as Article 6. Leahy voted no.
Dalton thanked Malenfant, Gallagher and library supporters for reaching out to the Select Board about the order of the warrant.
“I think all of us want to see a very detailed and convincing argument made on the night of Town Meeting on behalf of the library because it is not a want, it is a need,” said Dalton. “People have to understand that.”
