REGIONAL – Town Meetings have been busy this spring approving large and small changes.
In Ipswich, Water Department Director Vicki Halmen told the Ipswich select board that the estimated cost of the new water treatment plant has increased from $35 million to $50 million. It is expected to hold the vote during a June Special Town Meeting to request borrowing the additional amount.
In Georgetown, residents at Town Meeting voted 422 to 64 to approve a $6 million override to cover a huge budget shortfall. The vote went to the voters on Monday. [Where it was approved – winning by a less than 240 votes, with less than 50% of the voters going to the polls.]
The town meeting also voted to give Town Administrator Orlando Pacheco more power over full time, non-school town employees, including the administrators of the Conservation Commission and the Planning Board.
Pacheco, who has maintained a battle with the conservation commission and planning board, called the staff “a wild, wild West.” The measure, known as Article 12, was opposed by Conservation Commission and Planning Board chairs Chris Candia and Harry La Cortiglia, who called the measure a power grab by the town administrator who was attempting to influence policy decisions. Pacheco disagreed.
In their Town Meeting, Rowley residents voted to allocate $500,000 to Windward Crossing, an affordable housing project on Route 1 across from the Rowley Marketplace. It will include 20 affordable rental units for seniors 62 years and older, a five-person group home for adults with developmental issues, plus private residences and a community center open to all Rowley residents.
Harborlight Homes, a development group, Homes requested the $500,000 from the town’s community preservation fund for this project.
The community preservation fund, which raises money by adding a surcharge of up to 3 percent on property taxes, is designated for affordable housing, open-space protection and historic preservation.
The request for $800,000 to fund both the trust and Windward Crossing was part of the on-going fight over the MBTA 3A zoning fight. ♦
