Town Meeting, May 7, 2022

The town has published neither minutes nor an agenda for this meeting. The recording is the only record, and what follows is a guide to it.

budgetcapitalcontracts and unionsdebteconomic developmentfacilitiesfree cashhealth insurancehiringhousinglegalmonty techpersonnelplanning and zoningpolicyprimary schoolpublic commentpublic safetyretirementroads and dpwstaffingstate aidsuperintendent reporttown meetingtransferswarrant articlewater sewer

Present: the moderator (town moderator); Rob Bowen (deputy moderator); Ms. Lemieux (town manager); Mr. Dwyer (select board member); Mr. Franco (select board member); Mr. Jeffries (select board member); Mr. Alonso (select board member); Mr. Beardmore (finance committee member); Dave Pacios (finance committee member / vice chair, capital planning committee); Mr. Menard (finance committee member); Mr. Simeone (finance committee member); Mr. Waters (finance committee member); Mr. Gray (finance committee member); Mr. Baelish (finance committee member); Dr. Burnham (superintendent of schools); Thomas Gamble (police chief); Adam Costa (town counsel); Adam Bernie (land use director); Eric Arnold (personnel committee chair); Mary Foyle (bylaw review committee chair); Dave McDonald (chairman, sewer commission); Mark Bursch (chairman, board of water commissioners). Names are the caption model’s hearing and may be wrong.

Votes

1. ▶ 17:32Approve the consent calendar (articles 1, 2, 3, 9-17, 20) without debate as printedpassed, 125 in favor, 4 opposed, 129 voted
2. ▶ 18:54Article 4: transfer among several FY22 budget lines (insurance, workers comp, group health, reserve fund, unemployment) to cover the snow and ice deficit and fund salary reserve — moved by Mr. Dwyer, as heardpassed, 123 in favor, 3 opposed, 126 voted
3. ▶ 22:02Article 5: transfer from salary reserve to fund the first year of the FY22-23 AFSCME Council 93 collective bargaining agreement — moved by Mr. Jeffries, as heardpassed, 120 in favor, 6 opposed, 126 voted
4. ▶ 24:08Article 6: raise and appropriate and transfer from free cash and various prior article balances to fund the FY23 capital plan — moved by Mr. Alonso, as heardpassed, 122 in favor, 45 opposed, 167 voted
5. ▶ 1:20:38Article 7: approve the administrative organization plan creating a facilities director position — moved by Mr. Franco, as heardpassed, 136 in favor, 28 opposed, 164 voted
6. ▶ 1:30:54Article 8: raise and appropriate the FY23 omnibus town and school operating budget — moved by Mr. Dwyer, as heardpassed, 164 in favor, 9 opposed, 173 voted
7. ▶ 1:59:19Article 18: transfer from free cash to remove solid waste materials and restore the Woodruff property (104 Fairview Road) — moved by Mr. Jeffries, as heardpassed, 164 in favor, 7 opposed, 171 voted
8. ▶ 2:48:28First attempt: vote on the Bertram amendment reducing Article 19 to $250,000 (procedurally flawed, later redone)amendment reported passing, 101 in favor, 68 opposed, 169 total; later voided and re-voted after town counsel flagged a procedural problem
9. ▶ 3:14:34Vote on the corrected Bertram amendment to Article 19 (transfer $250,000 from free cash for demolition and design, not delineated by category) — moved by Paula Bertram, as heardpassed, 94 in favor, 83 opposed
10. ▶ 3:17:43Article 19 as amended: transfer $250,000 from free cash for demolition of the old primary school and final engineering/designpassed, 145 in favor, 18 opposed, 163 voted
11. ▶ 3:22:30Article 21: replace the current salary schedule with the FY2023 salary schedule for non-union permanent employees — moved by Mr. Jeffries, as heardpassed, 142 in favor, 4 opposed, 146 voted
12. ▶ 3:52:19Amendment to Article 22 removing the one floating holiday from the paid holiday list (offsetting the Juneteenth addition) — moved by Mr. Jeffries, as heardfailed, 84 in favor, 91 opposed, 175 voted
13. ▶ 4:00:34Amendment to Article 22 deleting the added floating-holiday-for-non-scheduled-day language in section 70-19(c) — moved by Mr. Alonso, as heardpassed, 95 in favor, 78 opposed
14. ▶ 4:02:21Article 22 as amended: replace the salary administration plan bylaw language per the personnel committee's proposalpassed, 155 in favor, 18 opposed, 173 voted
15. ▶ 4:03:21Article 23: create a 300th-anniversary steering committee and appropriate funds for initial expenses — moved by Mr. Franco, as heardpassed, 161 in favor, 3 opposed, 164 voted
16. ▶ 4:05:47Article 24: amend the general bylaws as printed (bylaw review committee omnibus changes) — moved by Mr. Dwyer, as heardpassed, 171 in favor, 4 opposed, 175 voted
17. ▶ 4:50:21Vote on the amended sewer bylaw waiver section (10.0) as negotiated on the floorpassed, 168 in favor, 5 opposed
18. ▶ 5:02:11Article 25 as amended: amend the sewer bylaw waiver provisionspassed, 147 in favor, 33 opposed, 180 voted
19. ▶ 5:03:15Article 26: amend the marijuana establishment bylaw's special permit procedure regarding provisional licensure — moved by Mr. Jeffries, as heardpassed by more than two-thirds, 159 in favor, 7 opposed, 166 total
20. ▶ 5:11:52Amendment to Article 27 correcting the map date from 2020 to 2021 — moved by Mr. Bernie, as heardpassed unanimously by unopposed voice vote
21. ▶ 5:45:59Article 27: amend the water supply protection district bylaw and map (select board recommended disapproval)not audible
22. ▶ 6:10:53Article 30: adopt a resolution in support of changing the state flag and seal of Massachusetts — moved by Paul Lauria, as heardnot audible

And 5 procedural: move the question (cut off debate) on the bertram amendment to article 19 (▶ 2:46:25); move the question (cut off debate) on the sewer waiver amendment, article 25 (▶ 4:48:57); move the question (cut off debate) on article 27, water supply protection district (▶ 5:41:17); article 28: pass over as it relates to previous articles (▶ 5:46:44); pass over article 29 (citizen petition to expand the sewer service area map on chestnut street) (▶ 6:09:12).

Transfers

The money

1. ▶ 13:53Consent calendar: revolving funds reauthorization, prior-year expense transfer, stabilization and special purpose fund transfers, OPEB trust transfer, sewer enterprise budget, solid waste and water enterprise budgets, PEG access budget, cemetery lot sale funds, salary plan reclassification

   The consent calendar bundled routine free-cash transfers into the stabilization, OPEB and special-purpose funds, plus the sewer, solid waste, water and PEG enterprise fund budgets, adopted together without debate.

   as heard:500a hundred thousand dollars450 000two hundred and sixty six thousand six hundred ninety six dollarssix hundred and fifty six dollars853 112.531 million 213 182 dollars793 968.4735 548.86302 00025 000152 477eleven thousand ninety dollarsa hundred and sixty three thousand five hundred and sixty seven dollars47 808ten thousand dollars

2. ▶ 1:27:18Article 7: new facilities director position

   Creates a director of facilities and grounds position with an estimated salary, to be included in the FY23 budget.

   as heard:85 000

3. ▶ 1:36:04State aid (Governor's House 1 figure) used in the FY23 revenue estimate

   The town manager said the budget reflects the Governor's House 1 state aid figure, an increase over the prior year, subject to change once the state finalizes its budget.

   as heard:10 percent increase10 million 390 105

4. ▶ 1:41:58School department FY23 budget and staffing changes

   The superintendent described new positions (kindergarten teacher/para, intervention teacher, athletic trainer, social worker) offset by consolidating library/technology positions into a stem teacher and librarian, funded within a stated overall school budget increase.

   as heard:22 million hundred 325 nine dollarsthree point one one percent increase

5. ▶ 1:45:27Monty Tech assessment

   The town manager attributed the increase largely to a rise in the number of Lunenburg students attending Monty Tech.

   as heard:17 percent increase

6. ▶ 1:45:48Retirement assessment, health insurance, solid waste/recycling, debt service, cherry sheet, tax title

   Non-discretionary cost drivers listed for FY23 include higher retirement assessment and health insurance rates, lower solid waste and debt service costs, and changes to cherry sheet charges and tax title/abatement accounts.

   as heard:10 increase5.56 rate increase5 percent11 decreasethree percent decrease2.5 percent decrease16 percent increase2.5 decrease

7. ▶ 1:47:32FY23 budget conclusions: unappropriated tax levy balance and free cash carryforward

   The town manager said the balanced budget leaves a small unappropriated tax levy balance and a free cash balance carried into next year's capital/stabilization/OPEB planning.

   as heard:approximately 190 thousand dollarsapproximately 316 000

8. ▶ 4:03:21Article 23: 300th anniversary steering committee

   Appropriates initial expense funds for an up-to-11-member committee to plan the town's 300th anniversary observance.

   as heard:5 000

9. ▶ 5:47:04Article 29: proposed sewer service area expansion, 5 Chestnut Street

   A non-resident property owner petitioned to add the rear acreage of a parcel to the sewer service area for a barn/equestrian facility; opponents cited a 2021 discussion of a 40-unit development on the same property. The article was passed over.

Settled without a vote

• ▶ 6:49Rob Bowen was reappointed deputy moderator for the year, with no objection raised, rather than by formal vote.
• ▶ 49:01The moderator, on advice of town counsel, ruled that town meeting could vote only the total dollar figure of the Article 6 capital plan and could not amend or debate individual line items within it.
• ▶ 1:01:51The finance committee agreed among itself to undertake a deeper review of the capital planning process during the coming year.
• ▶ 1:10:10The superintendent indicated that if the primary school AC project needs a modest additional amount, the district would seek to cover it within its operating budget, but a larger shortfall would come back to town meeting via a future capital request.
• ▶ 3:01:43The moderator, after conferring with town counsel, voided the initial vote on the Bertram Article 19 amendment because it had not been properly worded, and had the amendment re-read and re-voted.
• ▶ 5:29:30The moderator ruled Carl Strathmeyer's proposed amendment to Article 27 (restricting where a Zone One could be created) out of scope of the article as warranted, and disallowed debate on it.

Public comment

1. ▶ 1:02:14asked whether the town's bond rating affects the cost of the capital plan — Richard McGraw, as heard, resident
2. ▶ 1:11:55questioned repeated master plan funding and urged voting down the capital plan — Daryl Plant, as heard, resident
3. ▶ 1:13:17argued the capital-plan total vote is still a workable process because voters can hold the executive branch accountable later — Lockwood, as heard, resident
4. ▶ 1:15:03supported voting on the capital plan as a single total — Anthony Scalabrini, as heard, new resident
5. ▶ 1:16:52described hot classroom temperatures at the primary school in support of the AC project — Katie Adams, as heard, resident
6. ▶ 1:17:53argued the clicker system could have allowed item-by-item votes on the capital plan — Chris Albert, as heard, resident
7. ▶ 2:04:14described finding the Woodruff property dump site and criticized the town for not knowing about it before purchase — Daryl Plant, as heard, resident
8. ▶ 2:15:27asked whether there is a proposed annual maintenance cost for the planned old primary school park — Richard McGraw, as heard, resident
9. ▶ 2:17:29asked whether dogs would be allowed at the planned park — Carol Hatch, as heard, former student of the old primary school
10. ▶ 2:18:10urged that good building maintenance be a lesson from the old primary school's decline — Anthony Scalabrini, as heard, member, architectural preservation district commission
11. ▶ 2:18:59asked whether the $450,000 article covers only demolition or also the park — Dave McDonald, as heard, resident
12. ▶ 2:28:55favored demolition but questioned committing park money before a town hall decision — Clark Knudsen, as heard, resident
13. ▶ 2:30:36argued the site should become open space rather than a fully designed park given other open-space uncertainty in town — Katie Adams, as heard, resident
14. ▶ 2:32:18asked what condition the lot would be left in after demolition — Mike Clark, as heard, resident
15. ▶ 2:34:04proposed amending the demolition article down to cover demolition and design only, not full park costs — Paula Bertram, as heard, resident
16. ▶ 2:36:06supported Bertram's amendment, noting parks generate no tax revenue — Dave McDonald, as heard, resident
17. ▶ 2:36:47supported Bertram's amendment and asked to hear from the dissenting finance committee member — John Tata, as heard, resident
18. ▶ 2:43:38supported Bertram's amendment, distinguishing an open space from an elaborately designed park — Karen Menard, as heard, chair of the parks commission, speaking as a member of the public
19. ▶ 2:57:48urged voting no on the amendment, arguing the town needs a vision before demolishing without a plan — Katie Adams, as heard, resident
20. ▶ 3:11:27suggested a larger dollar figure be attached to the amendment to give bidding flexibility — Tanner Cole, as heard, resident
21. ▶ 3:11:48opposed the amendment, warning underfunding design now could cost more later, citing the primary school's own AC history — Anthony Scalabrini, as heard, resident
22. ▶ 3:17:01asked whether selling the vacant lot in future would require a return to town meeting — Mike Clark, as heard, resident
23. ▶ 3:27:20raised concern that SAP (non-union) employees lack a grievance process protection comparable to union members — Deb Kristen, as heard, former 20+ year personnel committee member
24. ▶ 3:39:50opposed removing the floating holiday, noting SAP employees did not ask for Juneteenth and receive no overtime — Barbara LaFave, as heard, town/school business manager, SAP employee
25. ▶ 3:44:15argued SAP employees lack a union contract and should not lose a holiday — Payne McDonald, as heard, resident
26. ▶ 3:47:23said SAP employees' benefits are not equal to union employees' and should not be equalized by removing a holiday — Pauline Roy, as heard, SAP employee
27. ▶ 3:47:45asked for clarification on how the floating holiday would actually be applied to employees — Laura McGrath, as heard, resident
28. ▶ 4:19:48supported the sewer waiver amendment, citing concern about developers exploiting the bylaw for large parcels — Ken Chenis, as heard, resident
29. ▶ 4:21:10proposed further amending the sewer waiver to exclude new commercial properties — Mary Wilson, as heard, resident
30. ▶ 4:47:13called the amended waiver reasonable and moved to close debate — Joan P's, as heard, former sewer commission member
31. ▶ 5:12:57objected to the water protection district bylaw removing boating, fishing and other lake uses — Kathy, as heard, Hickory Hills lakefront resident
32. ▶ 5:16:48argued the zone one around the Hickory Hills well may be invalid because the water district doesn't own or control the whole zone as state regulation requires — Paula Bertram, as heard, resident
33. ▶ 5:19:11argued the existing bylaw itself amounts to a taking of private property and proposed an amendment limiting where a zone one could be created; ruled beyond the article's scope — Carl Strathmeyer, as heard, resident
34. ▶ 5:33:59questioned discrepancies between the old and new water protection district maps, including zone ones shown under Hickory Hills Lake — Bob P's, as heard, resident
35. ▶ 5:47:04petitioned to expand the sewer service area map to cover the rest of a Chestnut Street parcel for a planned barn/equestrian facility — Rick Blanchflower, as heard, property owner, non-resident petitioner
36. ▶ 6:02:22opposed expanding the sewer service area, citing the parcel's agricultural/wetland character and recent nearby condo development — Matt Allison, as heard, resident
37. ▶ 6:05:45questioned the applicant's stated plan for only a barn given the parcel's prior history of proposed condo development — Katie Adams, as heard, resident
38. ▶ 6:10:13presented the resolution supporting changing the state flag and seal — Paula Cook and Lauria, as heard, resident, petition sponsor
39. ▶ 6:11:14explained the history of the current state flag's imagery and moved the resolution — Paul Lauria, as heard, resident
40. ▶ 6:12:44translated the Latin motto on the state seal — David Dumould, as heard, resident of Montague

Where the time went

Minutes of recording by subject, from the topic spans below. A topic with two subjects counts toward both.

• facilities135 min · 36%
• capital126 min · 33%
• water sewer124 min · 33%
• policy110 min · 29%
• budget94 min · 25%
• primary school69 min · 18%
• planning and zoning66 min · 17%
• personnel54 min · 14%
• legal46 min · 12%
• state aid28 min · 7%

The whole meeting, in order

1. ▶ 0:00Opening: quorum, pledge, volunteer announcements, deputy moderator appointment, clicker voting demonstration and ground rulesinformational · 10:37 long · town meeting
2. ▶ 10:37Consent calendar (Articles 1-3, 9-17, 20): revolving funds, free cash transfers, enterprise fund budgets, salary plan reclassificationvoted, passed · 7:37 long · town meeting, transfers, free cash
3. ▶ 18:54Article 4: FY22 budget line transfers for snow/ice deficit and salary reservevoted, passed · 2:44 long · budget, transfers
4. ▶ 21:38Article 5: AFSCME clerical collective bargaining agreement fundingvoted, passed · 2:09 long · contracts and unions, budget
5. ▶ 24:08Article 6: FY23 capital plan, including lengthy debate over whether town meeting could vote items individuallyvoted, passed as an all-or-nothing total · 56:08 long · capital, budget, facilities
6. ▶ 1:20:38Article 7: creation of a facilities director position and reorganization planvoted, passed · 9:55 long · facilities, hiring, personnel
7. ▶ 1:30:54Article 8: FY23 omnibus town and school operating budget, presented by the town manager and superintendentvoted, passed · 28:05 long · budget, state aid, superintendent report
8. ▶ 1:59:19Article 18: Woodruff property dump-site cleanupvoted, passed · 9:05 long · free cash, water sewer
9. ▶ 2:09:13Article 19: old primary school demolition and passive-recreation park design, amended on the floor after procedural confusionvoted, passed as amended (funding reduced) · 1:09:23 long · primary school, facilities, capital
10. ▶ 3:18:36Article 21: FY2023 non-union salary administration plan schedulevoted, passed · 4:35 long · personnel, budget
11. ▶ 3:23:11Article 22: salary administration plan bylaw amendments, including a contested floating-holiday/Juneteenth tradeoffvoted, passed as amended (one sub-amendment failed, one passed) · 39:50 long · personnel, policy
12. ▶ 4:03:01Article 23: 300th anniversary steering committeevoted, passed · 2:46 long · policy
13. ▶ 4:05:47Article 24: bylaw review committee's omnibus general bylaw updatesvoted, passed · 3:33 long · policy, legal
14. ▶ 4:09:20Article 25: sewer bylaw waiver provision, extensively rewritten on the floor after debate over scope and unintended consequencesvoted, passed as amended · 53:35 long · water sewer, policy
15. ▶ 5:03:15Article 26: marijuana establishment bylaw amendment requiring provisional state licensure before a special permitvoted, passed (two-thirds) · 4:31 long · planning and zoning, legal
16. ▶ 5:07:46Article 27: water supply protection district bylaw and map update, disputed over Zone One property rights at Hickory Hillsvoted; outcome not clearly stated in captions · 38:13 long · water sewer, planning and zoning, legal
17. ▶ 5:46:22Article 28: passed overpassed over unanimously · 0:22 long
18. ▶ 5:47:04Article 29: citizen petition to expand the sewer service area on Chestnut Streetpassed over (not decided on the merits) · 23:09 long · water sewer, housing, planning and zoning
19. ▶ 6:10:13Article 30: resolution supporting changing the Massachusetts state flag and sealvoted; outcome not clearly stated in captions · 10:27 long · policy

What the captions could not carry

• The exact vote tally on Article 27 (water supply protection district) is not legible in the captions; the moderator asked for results and the response was garbled/reactive rather than numeric.
• The exact vote tally on Article 30 (state flag resolution) is not legible in the captions.
• The initial (voided) vote count on the first version of the Bertram Article 19 amendment may not reflect the final corrected amendment, and the captions do not cleanly distinguish the two votes.
• Several speaker names and street addresses are uncertain due to caption mangling, including 'Kathy Mosca/Moska', 'Payne McDonald', 'Bob P's'/'Joan P's', and 'Tanner Cole's' address.
• The precise dollar figure read aloud for the total FY23 omnibus budget differs slightly between the mover's reading and the figure on screen/in the warrant; the captions do not resolve which is correct.
• Individual roll-call vote tallies for many Select Board and Finance Committee recommendation votes are given as names/ayes but not as formal counts.

Written 2026-09-19 by scripts/write_recording_minutes.py (sonnet) from sources/data/youtube-transcripts/town-meeting/2022-05-07-smx_Uh68j6I.json — 9,785 caption segments, sha256 279d9c45c7c8…. All recorded meetings.