By MAUREEN DOHERTY

NORTH READING — The Select Board voted unanimously Monday night to call the Special Town Meeting sought through citizens’ petition to amend the town’s betterment bylaw for Monday, March 6. It will begin at 7 p.m. in the gymnasium of NRHS, 189 Park St.

The citizens’ petition, proposed by lead sponsor Adam Austin, 42 Main St., Unit 4, was signed by 345 registered voters in town whose signatures were certified by Town Clerk Susan Duplin last week.

All residential households will receive a Special Town Meeting Warrant in the mail 14 days in advance of the March 6 meeting.

The citizens’ petition seeks to amend the town’s General Bylaws under the category of “Assessments (Sewer Betterments)” essentially back to its original language as it existed prior to last June’s Annual Town Meeting. The amended bylaw was certified by then-Attorney General Maura Healey in October 2022.

The betterment formula had been amended by voters at Town Meeting on June 6, 2022 in anticipation of a Special Town Meeting planned for the fall of 2022 on whether the town should move forward with a wastewater (sewer) proposal via the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District to serve the town’s two main commercial corridors as well as several adjacent streets along this route that pass residential neighborhoods, condominiums and apartments.

The affected streets under the proposal are Main Street (Rte. 28); Park Street West (west of Main Street to Concord Street); all of Concord Street; North Street (from Main Street to Lowell Road-Rte. 62); and Lowell Road-Rte. 62 (from North Street to the Wilmington town line).

This warrant article will be the only article under consideration at the March 6 Special Town Meeting.

Under MGL Ch 39, Section 10: Town Meeting, if the citizens’ petition had been sought to be included as part of a regular Town Meeting (June or October) only 10 certified signatures would have been required. If it had been sought as part of a Special Town Meeting already called by the Select Board, 100 certified signatures would have been required. But because it was requested as a stand-alone Special Town Meeting, a minimum of 200 certified signatures were required and the law states that the Select Board must hold such a requested meeting within 45 days of certification.

The Select Board still plans to call for a Special Town Meeting later in the spring, potentially May 15, to address the larger question of whether to approve the wastewater plan. If approved, it would still require a Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion override vote.

ANNUAL TOWN MEETING DATES SET

Also on Monday night, the Select Board held the public hearing required of them to schedule both the June and October 2023 Town Meetings, which will be on Monday, June 12 and Monday, October 2, both at 7 p.m. at the NRHS gymnasium.

A revised wastewater project financing plan was also reviewed by the Select Board at Monday night’s public meeting. It was the first time three of the members who are not part of the Wastewater Working Group saw the updated proposal since the DPW went back to the drawing board in early November to incorporate the concerns heard from the public during the fall informational sessions. 

The remaining informational sessions are scheduled as follows:

• Monday, Feb. 27: Select Board Bylaw Warrant Article Informational Hearing and Wastewater Project Discussion

• Tuesday, Feb. 28: Town Boards and Committees Informational Meeting

• Monday, March 6:  Town Meeting on Sewer Betterment Bylaw Petition

• Wednesday, March 8: Public Outreach Meeting #1 (In Person)

• Monday, March 27: Select Board Actions on WWP Financing

• Wednesday, April 5: Public Information Session #2 (Virtual)

• Tuesday, April 11: Public Information Session #3 (In Person)

• Monday, May 8: Select Board Warrant Article Informational Hearing

• Monday, May 15: Town Meeting for Wastewater Project Borrowing

• No More Than 90 Days Later: Hold Special Election for Wastewater Project Debt Exclusion.

Citizens’ Petition

The bylaw and the amendments sought are reprinted below. The town is not responsible for the content of the proposed amended bylaw. The bold face type indicates additions sought and the strike-thru text indicates the portions of the bylaw the petitioners seek to remove.

Amend Code – General By-laws – Assessments (Sewer Betterments)

To see if the Town will vote to amend the Code of North Reading General By-Laws Chapter 25 –Assessments, by deleting the words designated by strikethrough text and adding the words designated in bold italics text, as follows:

§ 25-1 Betterment assessments.

The Town of North Reading will provide 50% of the necessary funds for assess betterments approved through the processes outlined below.

§ 25-2 Streets, sidewalks, storm drains.

A. Private streets – Street, sidewalk or storm drain betterments will be assessed using the”Fixed Uniform Rate” method.

(1) The Town of North Reading, based on the availability of funds, will provide 50% of the necessary funds for street betterments.

(2) At a public hearing, abutters on private streets must vote on whether they want their street converted to a public street. If a majority of the property owners residing on a street and representing a majority of the road frontage vote in favor of the conversion and the acceptance of costs for construction, the Public Works Department will recommend to the Select Board, the placement of the street on a list for conversion as funds become available. At the public hearing, abutters are given a NOT-TO-EXCEED assessment cost estimate per linear foot of frontage.

(3) The final assessment is the LOWER of either of the actual per linear foot cost based on the total construction costs divided by the assessable frontage, or the estimated assessment quoted at the public hearing. The date between its acceptance on the list by the Select Board and the date it is funded for conversion may be and is typically several years. After it is funded, the Department of Public Works shall prepare engineering and construction documents so that it may be put out to bid and constructed. Sometime between the date it is funded and the award of the conversion contract, the street is accepted as a public street, by Town Meeting. Along with the Town Meeting vote of acceptance, a notice of assessment and a layout plan is filed at the Registry of Deeds. The filing allows for title companies to recognize that the street is to become a public street and assessments to be rendered at a future unknown date. However, the layout plan and notice of assessment will not show on a certificate of municipal liens because the work has not yet been undertaken and no costs have been assessed for the conversion of the street to public.

(4) After the street is accepted as a public street, the construction contract is awarded and construction takes place. It is not uncommon for the construction of private streets, sidewalks, or storm drains to span two full construction seasons. The current practice is for assessments to be calculated within six (6) months following the completion of all work associated with the particular street being converted. This six month allowance is in conformance with the statute. Therefore, abutters can expect to receive their assessments for street conversion within six months of completion of street construction.

§ 25-3 Public water supply; sewers.

A. Water main or sewer improvement betterments will be assessed using the “Uniform Unit” method.

(1) The Town of North Reading, based on the availability of funds, will provide 50% of the necessary funds for water or sewer betterments.

(2) At a public hearing the abutters and property owners must vote on whether they want water mains constructed in the street. If a majority of the property owners residing on a street and representing the majority of the estimated usage vote in favor of the construction of the water or sewer improvement and the acceptance of costs for construction, the Public Works Department recommends to the Select Board, the placement of the street on a list for construction as funds become available. At the public hearing the abutters will be given a NOT TO-EXCEED assessment cost estimate based on estimated usage as defined in Title 5 of the State Environmental Code 300 CMR Section 15.203.

(3) The final assessment is the LOWER of either the actual cost based on the total construction costs divided by the assessable usage, or the estimated assessment quoted at the public hearing. The date between acceptance on the list by the Select Board and the date funded maybe and is typically several years. After funding, the Department of Public Works prepares engineering and construction documents so that the construction may be put out to bid and constructed. A notice of assessment and a layout plan is filed at the Registry of Deeds. The filing allows for title companies to recognize that assessments are to be rendered at a future unknown date. However the notice of assessment will not show on a certificate of municipal liens because the work has not yet been undertaken and no costs have been assessed for the construction or report of the sidewalks/drains.[Amended 6-4-2018 ATM by Art. 28, approved 9-21-2018]

(4) The construction contract is awarded and construction takes place. It is not uncommon for the construction of water or sewer improvements to span multiple construction seasons. The current practice is for assessments to be calculated within six months following the completion of all work associated with the particular water main being constructed. This six month allowance is in conformance with the statute. Therefore, abutters can expect to receive their assessments within six months of completion.