News

Salisbury May 19 Town Meeting warrants posted

By Angeljean Chiaramida
Staff writer
Published: May 7, 2008

On Friday, town officials posted warrants that Town Meeting will address at Salisbury Elementary School on May 19. The warrant for Annual Town Meeting, which starts at 7:30 p.m., deals with important town business for the coming year, including the proposed town operating budget.

Also posted is a supplemental warrant for the Special Town Meeting, which takes place at 7 p.m.

A brief description of warrant articles appears below. Warrants are posted at Town Hall and all other town buildings, plus the Post Office and the Salisbury Housing Authority. Copies can be obtained at the Town Clerk's office at Town Hall.

SALISBURY TOWN MEETING WARRANT

r Art. 1 — Election of town officers (May 13 election)

r Art. 2 — Town boards/committees reports.

r Art. 3 —Proposed 2009 budget (which begins on July 1, 2008) for a total of $17,667,989, a 4.5 percent increase of the current budget.

r Art. 4 — Amendment allowing a lot of land near Main Street to be included in the town's Commercial Zone. The acreage included would become part of the proposed Salisbury Gateway retail center.

r Art. 5 — Discontinues Old Locus Street, a technicality that removes the street from the town's official roads. The old road is now part of Interstate 95.

r Art. 6 — Selectmen's proposal for a more equitable manner of assessing sewer betterment fees, by incorporating privilege fees into the assessment methodology.

r Art. 7 — Allows borrowing $1.6 million for enlarging the water mains in the sewer expansion area along Rabbit Road.

r Art. 8 — Acceptance of Fanaras Drive as a town road.

r Art. 9 — Lets the town manager seek leases with cell phone companies to erect towers on town property, raising revenue and improving reception.

r Art. 10 — Lets selectmen enter agreements with other communities to purchase and share large equipment and vehicles.

r Art. 11 — Technical correction to October 2007 approval of the purchase of the Chase property, to protect the water supply.

r Art. 12 through Art. 17 — Reauthorize revolving accounts for specific town departments.

r Art. 18 — To authorize a second revolving fund for the Planning Board for building sidewalks in town.

r Art. 19 — To rescind an article passed by Town Meeting in 1990 requiring sewer fees to be based on water usage.

r Art. 20 — Authorizes the selectmen to acquire the gift of an easement for sharing the driveway on the portion of property at 1 Beach Road (the forthcoming CVS).

r Art. 21 — Allow a residentially zoned lot in the Old Elm Street and Rabbit Road area to be zoned commercial.

r Art. 22 — The only citizens petition article, filed by Kevin Henderson and 16 other residents would repeal Salisbury's wetlands protections bylaw, leaving Salisbury under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Environmental Protection for implementation of the state Wetland Protection Act.

SPECIAL TOWN MEETING WARRANT

Special Town Meeting warrant articles primarily concern housekeeping issues, utilizing about $273,000 to $306,000 in free cash to pay for needed items or cover overages in department budgets. Free cash — certified by independent accountants — is the money unspent in the current budget year.

Other articles concern transfers from one budget account to another.

Transfers from Free Cash

r Art. 1 — $35,000, a new police cruiser.

r Art. 2 — $14,000, fund the veterans benefits account.

r Art. 3 — $38,000, legal costs for tax title issues.

r Art. 4 — $25,000, general town legal costs.

r Art. 5 — $60,000, snow removal overages during the past winter.

r Art. 6 — $2,500, install a new emergency generator at the Police Department.

r Art. 7 — $12,500, fund part of a study on flooding at Blackwater Creek.

r Art. 8 — $5,000, updating town bylaws.

r Art. 9 — $4,500, upgrade Memorial School baseball field.

r Art. 11 — $14,000, cost related to the new administrative professionals union contract.

r Art. 12 — $25,000, costs related to the new department heads union contract.

r Art. 13 — $10,000, replace obsolete computers.

r Art. 15 — $18,000, Police Department fuel costs.

r Art. 16 — $7,500, unemployment insurance account.

Transfers between budget accounts

r Art. 10 — $2,000 from Harbormaster equipment repair account to assistant harbormaster salaries account.

r Art. 14 — $10,000 from Sewer Enterprise Fund Free cash to sewer enterprise fund wages account for sewer-related costs related to new public works union contract.

r Art. 18 — $85,201, from Stabilization Fund to FEMA Flood Reimbursement account concerning repairs to Town Creek tide gate after the Patriots Day flood.