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Town Meeting Spring 2009 — Day One Skateboard ban fails ~ Marijuana ban passes
by Derek Dobachesky
May 5, 2009 — More than 150
Hopkinton residents voted on 42 articles at the first part of
the town's annual meeting, addressing such issues as the Board
of Selectmen's town budget, changing the Board of Public Works
to an elected body and rezoning articles.
The first of two annual town meeting
sessions began at 7 p.m. in the Middle School auditorium. Debate
was set to end at 11 p.m. from the outset, with the remaining 10
articles to be addressed at the second session on Wednesday, May
6. A special town meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 6.
<--- Correction
The meeting commenced with reports
from the Department of Public Works, the public library, the
budget team, the Appropriations Committee, the School Committee,
the Capital Improvements Committee and the Board of Assessors.
Budget team member Michael Shepard
(File photo) presented the team's reports. According to Shepard,
most town departments will
"If your mother owned all of the
property in Hopkinton, her tax bill would not increase," Shepard
said. Shepard also said, however, that some individual property
tax bills would increase due to appreciation as a result of
things such as additions,
and tax revenues overall would increase due to economic growth.
Shepard, along with Board member
Matt Zettek and School Committee Chair Nancy Burdick, was a
member of the budget team tasked with facilitating
communications between town boards and committees throughout the
budget process.
Stuart Cowart (File photo), a member
of the Appropriations Committee, then presented the
Appropriations Committee's report on the budget.
Burdick outlined the School
Committee's budget request of $32,249,725.67, an increase of
$595,301 from 2009 funding.
This budget
preserves services and class
size, while avoiding any fee increases, but also
eliminates two
administrative positions
and cuts funding for supplies. <— Correction
After hearing these reports,
Hopkinton residents unanimously approved the town budget as well
as the School Committee and Sewer Department budgets.
The Director of the DPW then
introduced an article which drew intense opposition. The article
would have urged the Massachusetts General Court to amend
Hopkinton's town charter to make the Board of Public Works an
elected board, which in turn would elect the director of the DPW.
The BPW is currently appointed by the Town Manager, and no
mention of the BPW is made in the town charter.
Marie Eldridge, who helped develop
the town charter as chairwoman of the Hopkinton Charter
Commission, delivered an impassioned speech opposing making the
BPW an elected body. She cited the Commission's interviews with
numerous public administration experts and elected officials
from other towns during the 15-month process. Those interviewed,
as well as all candidates interviewed for the town manager
position, opposed an elected BPW, she said
After hearing from Interim Town
Manager Clayton Carlisle, who spoke of the need for a clear line
of command for the BPW, voters at the meeting rejected the
proposed amendment to the charter by a wide margin, with 105
opposing and 52 supporting.
A similarly contentious article was
police chief Thomas Irvin's proposal to ban "recreational
conveyances" — defined as motorized and non-motorized scooters,
skateboards, roller skates, and roller blades — entirely on a
number of streets. The
A number of residents, many with
addresses in or near the affected Downtown, objected that the
scope of the article was too broad, with one father suggesting
that his young son would be violating the policy by riding a
scooter alongside himself while on a walk. Irvin agreed that
this would violate the policy.
Hopkinton residents first voted in
favor of an amendment to eliminate the specific bans on use of
recreational conveyances on particular roads, then rejected the
amended article by a voice vote.
Irvin proposed two other articles
that passed. One reduced the penalties for possession of
marijuana to conform with state law following the vote to
decriminalize marijuana in Nov. 2008. Marijuana users will now
receive a $100 fine for the civil offense. The other article was
a new policy regarding temporary road closures.
Residents passed several zoning
bylaw amendments. One amendment allows for residents to obtain
permits for wind energy systems, provided they are for accessory
use on their property — industrial wind farms will not be
permitted. Another amendment will regulate the use of signs,
allowing one sandwich-type sign for each business and no signs
larger than the side of a building.
Residents also passed other zoning
bylaw amendments creating an office park district, a hotel
overlay district and rezoning 0 Cedar St. from residential and
agricultural land to industrial land for commercial use. A
corollary article was passed instituting a four percent
occupancy tax, to be applied to occupants at the hotel that will
be built in the new overlay district.
Residents also voted unanimously to
decrease the size of the Appropriations Committee from nine to
five and to give town boards and committees the ability to allow
members who are not present at meetings to vote afterwards,
provided they sign a form indicating they have either watched a
video, listened to audio or read a transcript of the meeting.
Committee and board members will not be able to vote on prior
motions if they miss more than one consecutive meeting. Hopkinton residents will convene again on Wednesday, May 6 at 7 p.m. in the Middle School Auditorium to address the remaining 10 town meeting articles following the special Town Meeting.
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receive level or lower funding for fiscal 2010, which will allow
the town to maintain current tax levels rather than implementing
a Proposition Two and a Half override.
"Payroll,
payroll, payroll makes up this budget," Cowart said. The
Appropriations Committee's figures showed that 67.5 percent of
the fiscal year 2010 budget will go towards payroll and
benefits. Cowart's presentation also described 14 town meeting
articles that will require spending of a total of $7 million if
passed, but Cowart said those would be paid for by existing
budget items and cost-savings from within departments.