By MAUREEN DOHERTY

NORTH READING — Action was taken on 17 Warrant Articles by the nearly 500 voters participating in the annual fall Town Meeting, held on October 7. With so much attention given to the three articles concerning the MBTA Communities Act, which failed overwhelmingly, as well as action taken to move forward with separate debt exclusion override votes as a potential source of funding for both a ladder truck for the NRFD (estimated at $1.9M or $142,000 annually), and a new Chestnut Street bridge, (estimated at $4.5M or $307,688 annually), it is easy to overlook the remaining items on the docket.

The following is the a wrap up of the remaining action taken by the voters in just under three hours to dispense with the warrant.

ARTICLE 1: Hear and Act on Reports of Town Officers and Committees: This article was approved but no town officers or committees had specific reports they needed to make to the voters.

ARTICLE 2: Prior Year Bills: The voters approved a payment of $775 to cover a drain cleaning bill received by the DPW.

Four additional articles were recommended to be passed over by the Select Board and the Finance Committee. The voters agreed and subsequently passed over Article 3: Appropriate Money to Stabilization Fund; Article 5: Appropriate Money to Solid Waste Stabilization Fund; Article 8: Rescind Authorization to Borrow; and Article 12: Appropriate Money for Legal Expenses – 20 Elm Street Litigation.

ARTICLE 4: A request to appropriate money to the Capital Improvement Stabilization Fund as approved with $250,000 to be appropriate from Free Cash.

ARTICLE 6: Voters also approved the appropriation of $175,700 from Free Cash to the Participating Funding Arrangement Fund, which covers a portion of the town’s stare of future health care insurance costs for current employees.

ARTICLE 7: Several amendments to the FY25 Operating Budget were approved to cover budgets that were underfunded when that budget was originally passed in June. Due to an additional $597,894 in new growth that had been identified and certified by the DOR in the months since June Town Meeting, the voters were able to fund the following shortfalls by voting to raise and appropriate the funding as follows:

• $68,052 for the Reserve Fund

• $80,000 for Police Department overtime

• $50,000 for Fire Department overtime

• $50,000 for Public Schools Student Services

• $349,842 for Public Schools Special Education tuition

Voters also approved the transfer of $100,000 from Hillview Retained Earnings to Hillview Expenses. This does not affect the tax rate because the Hillview Enterprise is funded through golf fees and the function hall.

ARTICLE 9: Voters approved amending the FY25 capital budget as follows: Funded Fire Engine / Pumper with $1.3 million in Free Cash; funded Town Center Wastewater Project with $375,000 from Free Cash,

$50,000 from Free Cash, and $300,000 from October, 2021 Wastewater Article; funded Park Street Bridge with $730,390 from October 2021 Wastewater Article, $29,803 from October 2018 Wastewater Article, and $400,000 from Free Cash; and authorized $500,000 in bonding for Hillview function facility roof.

ARTICLES 16 and 17 worked in tandem and voters approved both of them. Under Article 16, voters approved amending the Code of the town’s General Bylaws under Chapter 172 § 172-13 – Town Meeting – Determination of Vote, which would “allow the use of electronic voting technology at Town Meetings when directed by the Moderator. Alternatively, should 25 voters stand in their place favoring the use of ballots, the electronic voting technology shall be used. This would be in place of paper ballots, which would be used as a backup should electronic voting be unavailable.” This article was proposed following feedback during the first session of the June 2024 Town Meeting after an hour was spent on a paper ballot count.

Under Article 17 voters appropriated funding for the purchase of electronic voting devices using $40,000 from Free Cash.