By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The Select Board closed the Spring Town Meeting warrant during an April 12 meeting.
Spring Town Meeting will take place on Monday, May 16, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Lynnfield Middle School auditorium.
In addition to closing the warrant, the Select Board voted 2-0 to lower the Town Meeting quorum requirement from 175 voters to 150 voters. Select Board member Joe Connell did not attend the meeting because he was on a business trip.
“Under the Acts of 2022, Chapter 22, Section 15, towns may continue to reduce their town meeting quorums to as low as 10 percent of the total quorum in recognition of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic,” said Select Board Chairman Dick Dalton.
After speaking with Dalton and Town Moderator Joe Markey, Town Administrator Rob Dolan proposed that the quorum be reduced from 175 voters to 150 voters.
Select Board member Phil Crawford said he supported Dolan’s recommendation to reduce the quorum requirement by 25 voters.
“I wouldn’t go any lower than that,” said Crawford.
Assistant Town Administrator Bob Curtin gave an overview of the 16-article warrant.
Article 12 headlines the warrant for Spring Town Meeting. The warrant article will ask Town Meeting to appropriate $3.85 million to fund architectural and design costs associated with the public safety buildings and Town Hall renovation and expansion project.
“This article does not ask Town Meeting to fund the entire project,” said Curtin. “This article will fund architectural and engineering studies that are necessary to get a cost estimate that will be put before a subsequent Town Meeting.”
The public safety buildings and Town Hall renovation and expansion project as currently proposed involves renovating and expanding the Police Station, Fire Station and Town Hall on Summer Street. The project also involves building a new Fire Headquarters next to the existing South Station on Salem Street.
Curtin said 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.
Article 7 will ask Town Meeting to sign off on the proposed $2,174,851 capital budget for FY23. The capital budget includes $550,000 for the DPW’s road and sidewalk construction program as well as $250,000 for school technology. The capital budget also seeks to buy equipment for town departments.
“We anticipate no borrowing this year, so it will be a straight up-and-down vote and it will not take a two-thirds majority,” said Curtin.
Attorney Tim Doyle also submitted Article 16 as a citizens’ petition for Spring Town Meeting (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. He noted that those are the only boards in town that get paid.
“There is no change to the compensation that the members of both boards receive,” said Curtin. “These amounts haven’t changed for years and the last time they were changed, the pay was reduced.”
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.”
Article 8 will ask Town Meeting to appropriate $50,000 to the Capital Facilities Fund. Article 9 will request Town Meeting to allocate $150,000 to the Stabilization Fund.
Curtin said Article 10 will request Town Meeting to appropriate funds to the Emergency Medical Service Enterprise Fund’s budget. Article 11 will request Town Meeting to allocate funds 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.”
“Both budgets are completely funded by the proceeds from the services that are given,” said Curtin about Articles 10 and 11.
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.
Curtin said Article 14 will request Town Meeting to approve increasing Emergency Medical Service fees. He said 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 fee increases are being proposed by Fire Chief Glenn Davis,” said Curtin. “The changes are in line with what other communities are charging. They are usually paid for by insurance companies.”
Curtin said 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.
“If the developer fails to build out the development as outlined in the subdivision proposal, the town would take the money from the bond posted and finish the work on the subdivision,” said Curtin. “This will only authorize the Planning Board to do that. If the developer completes the work, the Planning Board could opt not to proceed.”
