By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — Spring Town Meeting will take place on Monday, May 16, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Lynnfield Middle School auditorium.

While Town Meeting has traditionally had a 175-voter quorum requirement to conduct the town’s business, the Select Board recently voted to reduce the quorum to 150 voters after Town Administrator Rob Dolan made the recommendation. The quorum reduction was made possible due to recently approved legislation that was signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker.

Town Moderator Joe Markey informed the Villager last week that electronic voting and electronic check-in will be returning to Town Meeting for the first since October 2019. Electronic voting had been put on the backburner due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are 16 articles appearing on the Town Meeting warrant. Article 12 headlines the warrant, which will ask voters to allocate $3.85 million to hire an architect to develop plans for the $41.25 million public safety buildings and Town Hall project.

Assistant Town Administrator Bob Curtin said during Monday’s Select Board meeting that the $3.85 million will be bonded.

“This would not require a debt exclusion,” said Curtin. “We can borrow these funds and pay them back under the current levy limit. A two-thirds vote is required because it involves borrowing.”

If Town Meeting approves Article 12, Curtin said a future Town Meeting will vote on sending the project to the ballot for a debt exclusion vote to “allow for the actual construction.” Town Administrator Rob Dolan said the $41.25 million project will not result in a tax increase because it will replace the debt expiring from the Reedy Meadow Golf Course purchase and the school projects from the early 2000s.

Select Board Chairman Phil Crawford and Select Board member Dick Dalton both voted to recommend Article 12. While Select Board member Joe Connell was not present at Monday’s meeting, he previously stated that he supported the project.

Article 6 will ask Town Meeting to approve the proposed fiscal year 2023 operating budget, totaling $62,827,639. The recommended spending plan represents a 3.3 percent increase over FY22’s $60,843,554 operating budget.

There will be two separate capital budgets that Town Meeting will be asked to consider under Article 7. The Select Board recently voted to increase the originally proposed $2,174,851 capital budget by adding an additional $100,000 to the DPW’s road construction program, totaling $600,000. The Finance Committee voted to support the original $500,000 that had been recommended for road construction (see separate story).

Additional warrant articles

Article 1 will ask Town Meeting to approve the annual Town Report. Article 2 will choose all town officers “not required to be chosen by ballot,” which are three field drivers, one pound keeper and three wood measurers.

Curtin said Article 3 will request Town Meeting to approve the salaries for the Board of Assessors and the Select Board. Those are the only boards in town that get paid.

“There are no changes to the annual stipends,” said Curtin.

Article 4 will ask Town Meeting to “vote to raise and appropriate or appropriate by transfer from available funds, sums of money to supplement certain accounts in the current 2022 fiscal year where balances are below projected expenditures for various reasons.”

Curtin said Article 5 will request Town Meeting to pay “overdue bills from a prior fiscal year.”

The Select Board voted to recommend that Article 8 be indefinitely postponed. The warrant article will ask Town Meeting to appropriate $50,000 to the Capital Facilities Fund. The board voted to indefinitely postpone Article 8 after agreeing to reallocate those funds to the DPW’s road construction program.

Article 9 will request Town Meeting to allocate $150,000 to the Stabilization Fund. Curtin said Article 10 will request Town Meeting to appropriate $824,183 for the Emergency Medical Service Enterprise Fund’s budget.

“The enterprise fund allows the Fire Department to operate the ambulance service,” said Curtin.

Article 11 will request Town Meeting to allocate $1,080,016 from “Golf Enterprise receipts and/or Golf Enterprise Retained Earnings to pay expenses and contractual services required to operate the Reedy Meadow Golf Course and King Rail Golf Course.”

“No money from the tax levy is needed,” said Curtin.

Curtin said Article 13 will set spending limits for the town’s revolving funds. The limit for the Council on Aging’s revolving fund totals $50,000. The Board of Health’s revolving fund’s limit is $15,000. The Lynnfield Public Library’s revolving fund limit totals $10,000. Lynnfield Recreation’s revolving fund limit equals $325,000. The DPW’s fields’ revolving fund limit totals $75,000. The DPW’s revolving fund limit for the Al Merritt Media and Cultural Center is $10,000.

Article 14 will request Town Meeting to approve increasing Emergency Medical Service fees. The proposal seeks to increase the Advanced Life Support 1 fee from $2,150 to $2,350, and the Advanced Life Support 2 fee from $3,150 to $3,450.

“These are almost completely paid for by insurance companies,” said Curtin.

The Planning Board submitted Article 15. The warrant article will ask Town Meeting to appropriate $167,372 from a bond posted by Hannah’s View Estates, LLC that will allow the town to finish the work on the Sagamore Place subdivision. While developer David Deloury has pledged to finish the work this spring, the Planning Board submitted Article 15 in case Deloury does not follow through with his commitments.

“The Planning Board is still hopeful the developer will complete this work,” said Curtin. “Article 15 will not trigger taking the bond. It will give the Planning Board the right to exercise that option should they need to take the bond or a portion of the bond.”

The Select Board voted 2-0 to recommend Article 15.

While Atty. Tim Doyle submitted Article 16 on behalf of developer Said Abu-Zahra that sought to rezone 4.189 acres of Ramsdell Way from Single Residence B to Elderly Housing, Doyle informed Town Moderator Joe Markey and the Select Board last month that Said Abu-Zahra’s son, Sheriff, requested that Article 16 “not be considered nor any action be taken at Town Meeting.” Article 16 will still be appearing on the Town Meeting warrant because it had already be posted before the request to have it not be considered was submitted.

“No action will be taken on this article,” said Curtin. “The article will be passed over.”