By BOB TUROSZ

 

NORTH READING — October Town Meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 6 in the new Daniel Shay Performing Arts Center of the new North Reading High School. To access the new school, take the Park St. entrance and driveway off Park St. The access road travels past the old high school and around the right side of the new building to the rear of the new building, where there is ample parking for Town Meeting.

Those who haven’t been in in the new school yet will soon discover why the facility is called a performing arts center rather than an auditorium. The center features 650 comfortable seats and stadium style seating; this is not your father’s auditorium.

Although it’s been a subject of discussion in town for weeks, the meeting will not be asked to vote on a citizens petition to name the new middle school, which opens in 2015, in honor of former vice principal Charles Jones. Petition sponsor Mark Favreau said the supporters have made the decision to pass over Article 22 in the best interests of the town and the School Committee and to allow the school board to revisit its policy on naming school buildings and facilities. The alternative to name a specific part of the middle school in honor of Jones can also be considerred at a future town meeting, but time is too short to get something done by Oct. 6, Favreau felt.

Voters will be asked to consider 22 articles, some of which are mundane, some of which are financial and some that address the normal issues associated with fall town meeting, such as zoning.

Among the articles under consideration :

• Article 13, seeking to amend the town’s zoning bylaws to regulate Registered Marijuana Dispensaries that might seek to locate here. This is sponsored by the Community Planning Commission based on months of review and meetings. If adopted, the bylaw won’t make it any more or less probable a marijuana dispensary would ever target the town, but it would allow the town to regulate it in certain ways.

• Article 10, to authorize the Selectmen to acquire the remaining undeveloped portion of the land at the former JT Berry Center in order to expedite the property’s development and return to the tax rolls.

• Article 18, sponsored by the North Reading Police Department, to restrict where Level 3 sex offenders can establish a permanent residence in town in relation to an elderly housing facility, school, day–care facility, park or school bus stop. The bylaw would apply to any Level 3 sex offender establishing a permanent residence in town after the bylaw takes effect.

• Article 22, a citizen’s petition to name the new middle school scheduled to open in 2015 in honor of former vice principal Charles E. Jones. After the article was submitted for the warrant, Town Counsel  issued an opinion saying Town Meeting does not have the the final authority to name a building or town property. That authority rests with the “custodial body,” in this place the School Committee, town counsel opined. And the School Committee recently reaffirmed its police to keep the North Reading Middle School name. As noted above, the petition sponsors have indicated they will move to pass over.

Also on the warrant:

• Article 3, transfer $500,000 to the Capital Improvement Stabilization Fund.

• Article 6, to amend the fiscal 2015 operating budget to the tune of $282,000, including $75,000 for legal services.

• Article 7, appropriate $50,000 for improvements to various town buildings.

• Article 8, appropriate a sum of money – $10,000 was the last figure discussed – for improvements in Room 14, the large meeting room in town hall.

• Article 9 would appropriate $50,000 to fund a settlement agreement between the Board of Selectman and William and Linda Smith over access to land located off Elm St. taken by the town nine years ago. (See other story).

• Article 14 is related to the bylaw that would regulate Registered Marijuana Dispensaries. If adopted, it would require applicants for these dispensaries to be finger printed in order to obtain a license from the Selectmen.

• Article 16 is sponsored by the Historical Commission and seeks funds to install a museum quality display case in the Flint Memorial Library to display Native American artifacts discovered at the JT Berry property. The cost is estimated at $25,000 and if the money can be made available from a town trust fund, this article would be passed over.

• Article 17 would make it make it easier for the Department of Public Works to enforce penalties against residents who violate the town’s emergency water use violations.