Monday’s annual Town Meeting at the Lynnfield Middle School will ask voters to determine the fate of 15 articles, most of them routine.
A recurring concern when there are no large-ticket or controversial articles is reaching a quorum, which currently stands at 175. The quorum for last year’s spring Town Meeting was 150.
“I am a little nervous about any time we have a Town Meeting and not meeting the required quorum numbers of 175 voters,” said newly-elected Select Board Chair Joe Connell. “With our recent election on April 11, we had only 664 voters turn out. We have 9,470 registered voters in Lynnfield. That means we had only 7 percent of voter turnout. The fact is that we only had one contested vote, and that was for Select Board, so that may have had an influence.”
“It’s always a concern,” said Assistant Town Administrator Robert Curtin. “Recently, we’ve done well in the spring; it’s the fall meeting usually when there are issues. No matter what, you can never take the quorum for granted.”
The Select Board voted April 11 to recommend 13 articles, deferring its vote on Article 1 (overdue bills) and 2 (transfer of funds) until its meeting on April 24 prior to the Town Meeting.
“There are only two articles that we’re not ready to offer a proposed motion,” said Curtin. “Traditionally we wait until the night of Town Meeting. One is unpaid bills. We usually wait to see if any others crop up and also the transfers, which we hold out until the end to get all the information we possibly can before we put that together.”
Curtin reviewed the articles at the board’s March 27 meeting, noting that this is his 39th consecutive annual Lynnfield Town Meeting.
He said all but the last three articles in the 15-article warrant appear annually in the Town Meeting.
The first of the three new articles is Article 13, which amends the bylaws regarding cemetery fees and was recommended by Director of Public Works John Tomasz. Tomasz reviewed the cemetery fees in Lynnfield and said they are well below every nearby area, so the amendment of this bylaw will bring Lynnfield in line with other communities. Included in this will be a comparison chart that outlines where Lynnfield is now in terms of fees and where it is going to be after this amendment.
“Most of these are modest increases,” Curtin said. “They will fund the ongoing cemetery operation and the expansion of the cemetery, which we hope to be able to act on at some point because as you know, as this board knows, we are running short of space.”
Board member Richard Dalton made a comment regarding the article, saying the board is aware of the scarcity of inventory at the cemetery.
“It’s one thing to compare prices to these other towns, but what’s their availability in those towns? Are they in a whole different position than us?” Dalton said. “So I’m not, on the surface, convinced that this is the right proposal to go forward with.”
Curtin responded by suggesting that the board either adopt this article so it can “increase a little bit” before doing another review to see if they should go further in a subsequent meeting, or just passing over and going forward with another proposal at the October meeting.
Dalton said the best choice is to go forward with the article with the understanding that they look at it further, and to bring it up at the fall meeting.
Articles 14 and 15 were brought to the board’s attention by the assessing manager, according to Curtin, who said both would accept provisions of state law that are local options regarding tax benefits for veterans.
Article 14 will allow someone to avail themselves of veteran’s exemptions if their property is in a trust and it is clearly demonstrated that the trust benefits a veteran.
“Many families will put a property in a trust and the feeling is that if you serve the country, but your property is in a trust, you should be able to avail yourself of the same benefits you would if you owned it under your own name,” Curtin said.
Article 15 is another acceptance of general law that will exempt the property of surviving parents or guardians of soldiers, sailors, and National Guard members who died in active service from real estate tax.
The other 12 articles in the warrant that are typically seen every year include acting on the town reports; choosing the ceremonial positions; fixing the compensation of the elected offices, which are the Select Board and the Board of Assessors; transferring in the current fiscal year budget, as Curtin said the town is running short on some lines and have surpluses in others; and authorizing to pay overdue bills from the prior fiscal year.
The sixth article, which Curtin said is the big one, is the operating budget. The seventh article is the capital budget, and the eighth is an appropriation to the town’s capital facilities fund, which Curtin said was outlined previously when the town reviewed its spending plan. The ninth article is similar, except for an appropriation for the stabilization fund. In both cases, Curtin said they will be adding to the reserves.
Article 10 is the budget for the emergency medical services enterprise operation and Article 11 is the budget for golf operations.
Article 12 authorizes the maximum expenditure in the town’s revolving funds for the various departments that receive funds. Curtin provided an example of people paying for senior center trips, and said that money comes in and goes out to pay the vendor for the trip.
Select Board Chair Phil Crawford said that while this is a shorter warrant than they’ve seen in the past, is it no less important.
This year’s Town Meeting begins at 7 p.m. on April 24.
