HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-03-17 Board of Selectmen Minutes BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES MARCH 17, 1997
CALL TO ORDER: Kevin Foley, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM.
ATTENDANCE: The following were present: Kevin Foley, Chairman;William B. Duffy, Jr.;
John Leeman; Donald Stewart; David Torrisi; and Robert J. Halpin, Town Manager.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: February 18, 1997, March 4, 1997, March 10, 1997 -David Torrisi made
a motion, seconded by John Leeman,to approve the minutes as presented in the packages; vote approved 5-
0.
YOUTH SERVICES CARNIVAL: The Youth Services Carnival will be held at the North Andover
High School beginning May 1, 1997. John Leeman made a motion, seconded by Donald Stewart,to
approve the Youth Services Carnival; vote approved 5-0.
SPECIAL ELECTION BALLOT: The Town Manager and Attorney Joel Bard, Town Counsel,
discussed with the Board of Selectmen the previous votes of the Board to approve the special election ballot
questions. A general override question needs a simple majority vote of the board to approve the question,
however, a debt exclusion question needs 2/3 vote of the board. The previous votes of the board approved
the general override question, however,there was not a sufficient majority to approve the debt exclusion
override question. Therefore,the Town Manager requested that the Board of Selectmen revisit these votes,
as well as approving the drafted general override question. Town counsel will be reviewing this override
question with the Secretary of State's Election Division, as well as the Department of Revenue, for their
opinion as to the appropriateness of the question.
General Override Question-John Leeman made a motion, seconded by Donald Stewart,to approve
question 4 1, as written or as amended by Town Counsel after his discussions with the state,this motion is
to also remove the language in the draft which is set off in the parentheses; vote approved 4 - 1
(David Torrisi opposed). The following will be the ballot question.
QUESTION 1:
Shall the Town of North Andover be allowed to assess an additional S 1,346,000 in real estate and
personal property taxes for the purposes of:
providing for the increased contractual costs for Municipal Solid Waste Disposal through
property taxes as opposed to a user fee(S 550,000);
operating budget for the North Andover Public School system (S 426,000) to maintain
educational services and programs in light of increased student enrollment;
operating budget for the North Andover Police Department (S 200,000) to provide for four
police cruisers per shift;
operating budget for the Town Manager and Legal Services to maintain office services to
public and represent Town on host community issues involving the solid waste disposal
facility, the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District waste water plant; and the Lawrence
Municipal Airport located in North Andover(S 70,000);
and operating budget for the Stevens Memorial Library (S 100,000) to allow the library to
be open for public use sixty seven hours per week;
for the fiscal year beginning July first,nineteen hundred and ninety-seven.
Board of Selectmen Minutes March 17, 1997 Page 2.
The Town Manager then requested that the Board revisit the vote of the debt exclusion question for the
construction of the Thomson School being that a 2/3 vote is required to approve the ballot question.
John Leeman made a motion, seconded by Donald Stewart,to place a debt exclusion override question on
the ballot for the construction of the Thomson School; 3 -2 vote failed to reach 2/3 of the Board;
David Torrisi and William Duffy opposed).
Mr. Duffy and Mr. Torrisi, while maintaining their support for the Thomson School project, restated their
opposition to the debt exclusion dedicated to the construction of the Thomson School. Mr. Duffy is
opposed to a debt exclusion override because of the delay of the debt exclusion reflecting in the tax rate and
because the projects create a burden in the operating budgets. Mr. Torrisi is opposed to two questions
because of the potential risk of the Thomson School passing without the general override passing.
The Board then took comments from the public. James Gammie of the Finance Committee stated that the
Finance Committee has not taken a position on whether to support one or two questions, although
Mr. Gammie would prefer one question for both the general override items and the Thomson School.
Marilyn Doyle of the School Committee spoke in support of two questions. Many individuals expressed
concern that the debate may be causing confusion to the voters.
William Duffy made a motion, seconded by David Torrisi to amend question 41 of the ballot to substitute
the number with$ 1,724,000 for the number in the first line of$ 1,246,000;
and further moved to provide $ 378,000 funding for construction of the new Thompson
School in the first paragraph after the colon;
and then amend in the last sub paragraph involding the Stevens Memorial Library, strike $
100,000 and insert $ 60,000, strike 67 hours and insert 63 hours and add a sub paragraph
below the Stevens Memorial Library paragraph and insert;
Operating budget of$ 21,000 for additional Youth Services staffing and an operating
budget of$ 22,000 for Senior Center additional staffing; vote failed 2 - 3 (Donald Stewart,
John Leeman, and Kevin Foley opposed).
BUDGET WORKSHOP: The Board of Selectmen then moved into a Budget Workshop with the
Finance Committee and the School Committee to discuss the status of the development of the
Fiscal Year 1998 budget. Chief Stanley, Police Department, and Sue Ellen Holmes, Stevens
Memorial Library, explained the impacts of the proposed budget. Robert J. Halpin, Town
Manager, discussed the budget impacts of the Fire Department, Public Works Department and
Town Manager's office budget. The School Committee presented the impacts of the School
Department.
SPECIAL ELECTION BALLOT QUESTION: The Board of Selectmen again discussed the
Special Election ballot and the lack of a debt exclusion override question for the construction of the
Thomson School.
John Leeman made a motion, seconded by Donald Stewart,to place a referendum question pursuant to
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 59, Section 21C, Clause K,to determine if the town would exempt
from Proposition 2 '/2 the amount required to pay for the bond issued in order to reconstruct and expand the
Thomson School; vote approved 4 - 1 (William Duffy opposed). Mr. Leeman left the meeting at this time
due to ill.
Board of Selectmen Minutes March 17, 1997 Page 3.
Mr. Torrisi explained that the change in his vote for the affirmative was to allow the vote to be
brought before the town at the election and to allow the voters to decide on the question. He stated
that he is still opposed to two questions in the form to be presented, however in the interest of
moving the project proposal forward, Mr. Torrisi changed his vote to the affirmative.
ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, David Torrisi made a motion, seconded by
Donald Stewart,to adjourn this meeting at 10:30 PM; vote approved 4-0.
Melissa A. Powers, Administrative Secretary David Torrisi, Clerk of the Board