COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
TOWN OF PEMBROKE
SPECIAL FALL TOWN MEETING WARRANT
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2008
PLYMOUTH, ss.
To either of the Constables of the Town of Pembroke in the county aforesaid.
GREETING: In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are hereby required and directed to notify and warn the inhabitants of the Town of Pembroke who are qualified to vote on Town Affairs and Elections therein to meet at the PEMBROKE HIGH SCHOOL, Learning Lane, on TUESDAY, the TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF OCTOBER, 2008 at SEVEN THIRTY O’CLOCK in the evening, then and there to act on the following:
ARTICLES 1 THROUGH 14
ARTICLE 1: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate, transfer from the Capital Fund, Stabilization Fund or other available funds or authorize the Treasurer to borrow, a sum or sums of money, to be expended for capital projects and/or equipment, or take any other action relative thereto.
Submitted by Various Town Departments
ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:
SELECTMEN’S RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
EXPLANATION: A separate handout will be available with a list of Capital Plan project requests. They include such requests as:
Board of Health requests funding that would include the cost of the new copier, start-up supplies and service contract. The old copier would be donated to the new Pembroke Recycling Center for its office use.
The Police Department requires two cruisers to maintain the patrol fleet. Two cruisers now in operation will be sold at auction or sold for scrap.
The Police Station requires replacement and/or repair of three exterior doors and several sash windows. The 2nd floor property storage area requires insulation, partitions, electrical wiring, wallboard, heat and air conditioning to provide work space and storage for property and records that are now being stored in the basement. Gutters, downspouts, and exterior trim require repair and/or replacement. A deck ant the rear of the building requires repair.
Last year, the Police Department had new generators installed at the station and at High Street water tower, the site of the police radio repeater. The transfer switch and annunciator, and the monitoring system are designed to alert personnel in the event of any generator malfunctions, and are recommended by the generator installation company.
ARTICLE 2: To see if the Town will vote to transfer from available funds the sum of $13,520.00 to provide for the unpaid bill from FY2008 listed below, or take any other action relative thereto:
Vendor
Department Amount Fiscal YearKopelman & Paige Selectmen $1,479.70 2008
National Grid Street Lights 3,854.68 2008
Raymond Kasperowicz, CPA Selectmen 6,894.50 2008
Town of Pembroke Water Dept Highway 1,291.30 2008
Or take any other action relative thereto.
Submitted by the Town Accountant
ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
SELECTMEN’S RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
EXPLANATION: Mass. General Law requires that unpaid bills from previous fiscal years require approval by a 9/10th vote of a special town meeting.
ARTICLE 3: To see if the Town will vote to authorize the below listed transfers to supplement Fiscal Year 2009 appropriations, or take any other action relative thereto:
Transfer To Amount Transfer From
Town Clerk Expenses $ 614.20
Town Clerk Wages & Salaries 1854.00
County Pension Assessment 73,013.00
Emergency Management Expenses 22,361.00
Or take any other action relative thereto.
Submitted by the Town Accountant
ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
SELECTMEN’S RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
EXPLANATION: These transfers are requested to correct shortfalls in the current budget.
ARTICLE 4: To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to petition the General Court for special legislation authorizing the Town Administrator to sign warrants for payment, as set forth below; provided, however, that the General Court may make clerical or editorial changes of form only to said bill, unless the Board of Selectmen approves amendments thereto prior to enactment by the General Court, and provided further that Board of Selectmen is hereby authorized to approve amendments which shall be within the scope of the general public objectives of this petition:
An Act Relative to Signing of Warrants for Payment in the Town of Pembroke
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 56 of chapter 41 of the General Laws, or of any other general or special law to the contrary, the town administrator in the town of Pembroke is hereby authorized to approve all warrants for payment of town funds, including payroll warrants. The approval of all such warrants by the town administrator shall be sufficient authority to authorize payment of the same by the town treasurer, but a majority of the board of selectmen shall approve all such warrants in the event of the absence of said town administrator or a vacancy in the office of town administrator.
Or take any other action relative thereto.
Submitted by the Board of Selectmen
ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: Unfavorable Action
SELECTMEN RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
EXPLANATION: Approval of this petition would allow the Town Administrator to approve warrants for the disbursal of Town funds when a majority of the Board of Selectmen is not available.
ARTICLE 5: To see if the Town will vote to grant an easement to the New England Villages to cross a parcel of town owned land shown on Assessors Map D3-7D, School Street, and to construct a small gazebo or similar structure on said property, or take any other action relative thereto.
Submitted by the Board of Selectmen
ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
SELECTMEN RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
EXPLANATION: New England Villages is requesting an easement over Town- owned, tax possession property that lies between two abutting parcels owned by New England Villages in order to allow residents of the Villages to cross from one building to the other and avoid walking on the main street.
ARTICLE 6: To see if the Town will vote to amend the Town Bylaws, Article II, Section 11, as follows: (a) To insert in the first sentence thereof, after the words ‘Town Meeting articles’, the following: ‘except the General Budget article, including the Wage and Personnel Compensation Schedules.’; and (b) Further, to add at the end of the third sentence thereof the following: ‘and shall be the first article to be considered at the Annual Town Meeting’; or take any other action relative thereto.
Submitted by the Board of Selectmen
ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: Unfavorable Action
SELECTMEN RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
EXPLANATION: There was a consensus of the Advisory Committee, Town Moderator and Board of Selectmen to give this a try. An article at a later date could be submitted to go back to the old system if needed.
ARTICLE 7: To see if the Town will vote to borrow the sum of $750,000 to expand the town hall to the third floor, with elevator, dormers and interior design, and to effectuate energy, heating, lighting and related improvements to town hall, to provide adequate meeting space in the town hall, or take any other action relative thereto.
Submitted by the Board of Selectmen
ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: Unfavorable Action
SELECTMEN RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
EXPLANATION: The money’s approved use would include the updating of the heating and lighting systems to increase energy efficiencies. This will set a budget to work within that the town should be able to afford even in these financial constricting times. This will commit us to the project and make us more eligible for energy grants and performance contracting. The town hall will become more usable for meetings, office space and storage, without short-circuiting any long-term plans of the Community Center Committee in someday changing the use of the building. This requires a 2/3 vote.
ARTICLE 8: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate and/or transfer from available funds the sum of $ _______ to be added to the amount voted in Article 16 of the November 4, 2003 Special Town Meeting to fund Separation Pay Benefits, or to take any action relative thereto.
Submitted by the Board of Selectmen
ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
SELECTMEN’S RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
EXPLANATION: This article funds the November 4, 2003 STM Article that created the separation pay fund for employees that retire or leave the service of the Town.
ARTICLE 9: To see if the Town will vote to transfer from available funds, or otherwise provide a sum of money for the purpose of funding any new collective bargaining agreements, or to take any other action relative thereto.
Submitted by the Board of Selectmen
ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: Unfavorable Action
SELECTMEN’S RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
EXPLANATION: This article was prepared in advance of any agreements being reached by the Town and the bargaining units.
ARTICLE 10: COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE:
To see if the Town will vote to adopt and approve the recommendations of the Community Preservation Committee for Fiscal Year 2009, and to see if the Town will vote to implement such recommendations by appropriating a sum or sums of money from the Community Preservation Fund established pursuant to Chapter 44B of the General Laws, and by authorizing the Board of Selectmen, with the approval of the Community Preservation Committee to acquire, by purchase, gift or eminent domain such real property interests in the name of the Town, or enforceable by the Town, including real property interests such as permanent affordable housing restrictions and historical preservation restrictions that will meet the requirements of Chapter 184 of the General Laws, as may be necessary or proper to carry out the foregoing, or to take any action related thereto.
Recommendation A: Pembroke Housing Authority Automatic Door Openers
That the sum of $35,000 from Fiscal Year 2009 Community Preservation Fund revenues be appropriated for the purpose of supporting community housing to enable the Pembroke Housing Authority to purchase and install Automatic Door Operators, or take any other action relative thereto.
EXPLANATION: The Pembroke Housing Authority has submitted a request to purchase and install automatic door operators for five (5) HP units and the Community Building at The MacDonald Way elderly development, and three (3) units and the Community Building at Kilcommons Drive elderly development. The Pembroke Community Preservation Commission voted unanimously to fund this project with a grant of $35,000.
Recommendation B: Affordable Housing Specialist
That the sum of 20,000 from Fiscal Year 2009 Community Preservation Fund revenues be appropriated to support community housing to fund a part time position of an Affordable Housing Specialist, including start up administrative costs, or take any other action relative thereto.
EXPLANATION: The Pembroke Affordable Housing Committee has submitted a request for funding a new administrative position for the purpose of assuring that our current 104 affordable rental units in the Town of Pembroke continue to be affordable.
The Pembroke Community Preservation Commission voted to submit this article by a 3 to 2 vote.
Recommendation C: Signs for Bay Circuit Trails
That the sum of $2,600 from Fiscal Year 2009 Community Preservation Fund revenues be appropriated to support preservation of open space and that said funds be granted to the Pembroke Bay Circuit Trails Committee for trail signs for the Pembroke Bay Circuit Trails, or take any action relative thereto.
EXPLANATION: The Pembroke portion of the Bay Circuit Trail is part of a 200 mile walking/hiking trail beginning in Newburyport, MA and ending in Duxbury, MA. The Pembroke Bay Circuit Trail Committee has established a trail through Pembroke to tie in to the overall mapped plan. Signage is needed to allow the public to traverse these trails. The Pembroke Community Preservation Committee voted unanimously to fund this project.
Recommendation D: Furnace Pond Hydrologic Study
That the sum of $27,000 from Fiscal Year 2009 Community Preservation Fund revenues be appropriated for the restoration of open space and the preservation of historic resources and that said funds be granted to the Pembroke Watershed Association to fund the Furnace Pond Hydrologic Study, or take any other action relative thereto.
EXPLANATION: The Hydrologic Study is demanded by the State of Massachusetts as a prerequisite to dredging of Furnace Pond. It has been determined by private engineering firms that the only way to reclaim Furnace Pond as a recreational pond is by dredging, which will prevent the pond from turning into a swamp. Furnace Pond is a valuable recreational asset to the Town of Pembroke and the Community Preservation Committee voted unanimously to fund this project.
Recommendation E: Completion of Renovations to Bethel Chapel
That the sum of $23,000 from Fiscal Year 2009 Community Preservation Fund revenues be appropriated for the preservation of historic resources and that said funds be granted to the Pembroke Historical Commission to complete renovations to the Bethel Chapel located on Washington Street (Route 53), or take any other action relative thereto.
EXPLANATION: The Bethel Chapel is a public building that will serve as a meeting place for community groups and agencies. This project preserves and makes accessible one of Pembroke's historic buildings. The building has been undergoing a slow restoration over the last 18 years. In order to make the building available to the public, the plumbing, electrical and ADA requirements must be completed.
Recommendation F: Renovations to Friends Meeting House
That the sum of $30,000 from Fiscal Year 2009 Community Preservation Fund revenues be appropriated for the preservation of historic resources and that said funds be granted to the Pembroke Historical Society for the renovation of the Friends Meeting House located on the corner of Washington Street and Church St. (Routes 53 and 139), or take any other action relative thereto.
EXPLANATION: The Friends Meeting House is one of the oldest buildings in Pembroke. Built in 1706, the Meeting House served as a place of worship for members of the Society of Friends (Quakers), many of whom were instrumental in the founding of the Town of Pembroke. As the oldest Friends Meeting House in Massachusetts it represents one of the most valuable historic buildings, not only in Massachusetts but in the nation. This project includes restoration of windows, exterior, internal plaster repair, and insect pest treatment.
Recommendation G: Renovation and Restoration of Adah Hall House
That the sum of $33,450 from Fiscal Year 2009 Community Preservation Fund revenues be appropriated for the preservation of historic resources and that said funds be granted to the Pembroke Historical Society for the exterior renovation and restoration of the Adah Hall House located on Barker Street (Route 14), or take any other action relative thereto.
EXPLANATION: The Adah Hall House is the 17th Century homestead built by a Pembroke Town Founder, Robert Barker. This building and grounds, maintained by the Pembroke Historical Society, are one of the integral parts of the annual Colonial Days for Pembroke school children and is open to the public at various times throughout the year for historic tours. It houses many period items and is a treasure for the Town and is awaiting recognition on the National Historic Register. The building is in serious need of restoration to existing windows and exterior facade.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS:
On Recommendation A: Indefinitely Postpone
On Recommendation B: Unfavorable Action
On Recommendation C, D, E, F, and G: Favorable Action
SELECTMEN’S RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
ARTICLE 11: To see if the Town will vote to amend the Bylaws of the Town of Pembroke by correcting the placement of the following bylaw entries:
Change the incorrect reference of Article XII, Section 21, as voted at a previous town meeting and as approved by the Attorney General’s Office, to the appropriate Article XX Police Regulations, Section 19 Prohibited Sale of Drug Paraphernalia
Change the Roman numeral of Article XXXIII-A Demolition Delay Bylaw, as voted at a previous town meeting and as previously approved by the Attorney General’s Office, to Article XXXI-A Demolition Delay Bylaw
Change the Roman numeral of Article XXXIV Stormwater Management By-law, as previously approved by town meeting and by the Attorney General’s Office, to Article XXXV Stormwater Management By-law,
or take any other action relative thereto.
Submitted by the Town Administrator
ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
SELECTMEN’S RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
EXPLANATION: There will be no language changes to the articles in the bylaws, only the placement of the article within the book.
ARTICLE 12: To see if the Town will vote to transfer from surplus revenue and/or other available funds the sum of $____________ to reduce the tax rate for the Fiscal Year 2009, or take any other action relative thereto.
Submitted by the Town Accountant
ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
SELECTEMEN’S RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
EXPLANATION: A transfer of available funds will allow the Town to submit a balanced budget to the State for approval. At present, the budget is in deficit by a total of $598,899. This is due to a snow and ice deficit of $398,899 from Fiscal Year 2008 and a reduction in revenue estimates for Fiscal Year 2009 of $150,000.
ARTICLE 13: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate and/or transfer from available funds a sum of money to be added to the Stabilization Fund, or take any action relative thereto.
Submitted by the Board of Selectmen
ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
SELECTMEN RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
EXPLANATION: This article authorizes the Town Meeting to set aside a sum of money to be placed into the Town's Stabilization Fund to be used for future purposes. This requires a 2/3 vote.
ARTICLE 14: To see if the Town will vote to authorize the creation of a Special Stabilization Fund, under G.L. Ch. 40, 5B, to provide for amounts due to retiring employees for accumulated compensated absences, or take any other action relative thereto.
Submitted by the Town Accountant
ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
SELECTMEN’S RECOMMENDATION: Favorable Action
EXPLANATION: This article will allow the Town to begin to set aside sums to provide for the costs associated with providing health and life insurance benefits to present and future Town retirees.
Given under our hands and seals this 29th day of September, 2008
PEMBROKE BOARD OF SELECTMEN
_____________________________
Terry H. Finnegan, Chairman
_____________________________
Donal P. Anderson, Vice-Chairman
_____________________________
Hilary P. Wilson, Clerk
______________________________
Arthur P. Boyle, Jr., Selectman
_______________________________
Willard J. Boulter, Jr., Selectman
A TRUE COPY ATTEST: ____________________________________________
Mary Ann Smith, Town Clerk
Pursuant to the Warrant for the Special Fall Town Meeting to be held on October 21, 2008, I have notified and warned the inhabitants of the Town of Pembroke by posting up attested copies of the same at the Town Office Building, Pembroke Center Library, Pembroke Center Post Office, North Pembroke Post Office, Bryantville Post Office, and the Country Corner Store.
POSTED: _____________________ _______________________________
Date