Table of Contents
Town Meeting pulled out its checkbook Monday night, passing articles from the spring warrant focusing on Winchester’s fiscal and capital needs.
The evening marked the first time the Capital Planning Committee has submitted separate articles to Town Meeting that are not included in the “yellow sheets” in order to provide members with transparency and an opportunity for debate.
The evening’s first fiscal ask, Article 22, called for the spending of more than $670,000 on engineering, construction and equipment purchases for the town. Among the spending items passed May 6 were the following:
• $143,000 for ADA projects
• $500,00 for roads and sidewalks, supplemented by Chapter 91 funds from the state
• $40,000 for a new scissors lift and trailer for the Department of Public Works
• $93,000 for a new woodchipper for the DPW to replace a 24-year-old model
• $135,000 to replace a 16-year-old athletic field mower for the DPW
• $150,000 for MS4 permitting for Environmental Protection Agency compliance
• $15,000 for Columbarium engineering and design
• $90,000 for a dump truck for the Cemetery
Town Meeting member Pamela Cort questioned what happens to the old equipment when the town no longer needs it.
“We trade some in, refurbish quite a bit, but some are just completely gone,” said DPW Director Robert LaBossiere. “If we have a surplus, we try to salvage it.”
All the items in the article passed.
Lead lining, pump station and reservoir dam
The services water line replacement project is in its final stage, with Article 23 asking for $600,000 for the sixth phase of the project that started in 2017.
Jimmy Johnson, chair of the Capital Planning Committee, said the town has spent about $2.9 million to replace the lead pipes around the community. He said the town has done about 215 lines, with 97 still under investigation.
“The remaining replacements are difficult and time consuming,” Johnson said.
The CPC also recommended favorable action on Article 24, which would fix the Woodside Road Pump Station via money from the sewer and enterprise fund. The measure passed overwhelmingly.
Article 25 requested $6 million to fix the South Reservoir Dam, which is expected to go out to bid later this month and start construction either this summer or fall, finishing next spring. Residents questioned the scope of the trees being removed and whether the paths on top of the dam would remain.
But residents were surprised to learn they aren’t allowed to walk along the dam, only along the North Reservoir Dam area. Consultants also working on the project added they will be removing trees and flattening the slope around the downstream side.
Town Moderator Heather von Mering called for a vote, saying it was for $6 million, after all.
The measure passed with 145 in the affirmative, 5 in the negative with 2 abstentions.
Lynch School traffic improvements
Once again, the Select Board fully recommended Town Meeting approve $2.5 million for Article 26 to provide traffic improvements around the new Lynch Elementary School.
Select Board Chair Michelle Prior said the town held a series of meetings, both virtual and in-person, as well as provided an online form for residents to provide comments and suggestions. Prior said the goal of the improvements is to focus on kids walking or riding their bikes in the area around the school.
Traffic improvements will be put out to bid sometime this July, with an expected 13 months of construction around Horn Pond Brook Road in 2024 followed by the Pond Street side in 2025. With the project shut down in the winter months, it is expected to be finished by September 2025.
Prior said after meeting with residents around Pond Street, the town expects to do more traffic counts after the improvements.
While Pond Street residents have pointed to speed as a major concern in the area, Prior said the plan for the area tries to address those issues with several measures, including the widening of the center line, hardening of the center line so people know if they’re driving over, and striping 20 mph on the roadway itself. She added an Eversource project in the area will allow for further examination at a later date in order to see whether or not the improvements are working.
Town Meeting eventually voted 127 in the affirmative, with 23 voting in the negative and 5 abstentions.
Town budget
As stated in earlier Town Meeting sessions last week, Finance Committee Chair Dr. John Miller once again stated the town’s fiscal year 2025 budget is “structurally balanced,” meaning Winchester will be able to operate until at least fiscal year 2026 without dipping into its Free Cash reserves.
However, both Miller and Vice Chair Jeff Calabrese stated it’s important for the town to outline its goals in the coming years. Calabrese gave an example of the education budget, which he said needs improvement when compared with other communities that outline their objectives and how to meet them with a monetary directive from their boards.
The moderator then moved down the budget, passing several line items with favorable action. However, the Planning Board’s budget stopped the flow of discussion.
Chair Keri Layton asked Town Meeting to consider replacing money cut by the Finance Committee for an assistant town planner. The position has been deferred since fiscal year 2020.
Town Meeting member Brian Vernaglia, a former Finance Committee member, said it was ridiculous for the Planning Board to cut the $45,000 request. He said it was understandable in prior years, but the loss of the town planner last year caused issues as members of the board came to the rescue to fill in when the post was open.
“We can’t afford to fund a department that’s so lean,” Vernaglia said. “There’s no work being done.”
Miller, however, said last year Town Meeting gave the Planning Board $53,000 for the position, but the board refunded it. He said the additional money to the board would unbalance the budget.
Sally Dale, herself a former Planning Board member, said the toll on the board following the former town planner’s resignation was “really severe.” She said not having a redundancy in the department set up the town to fail.
“We need to plan for the future,” Dale said.
Other former Planning Board members also stepped up to remind Town Meeting that having another planner concentrate on writing grants brings extra revenue into Winchester and allows the other person to follow through on pending applications before the board, as well as other work that continually needs to be done.
Despite needing a simple majority vote, the town moderator asked for a “clicker” vote that included the amendment to add $45,000 for the assistant town planner position. The motion passed 120 in the affirmative, 19 in the negative and 4 abstaining.
A cut in the Fire Department budget for an assistant fire chief brought a similar action from Town Meeting.
Prior said the Select Board voted unfavorably on the department’s $7 million budget, as recommended by the Finance Committee, due to the open position.
The town originally negotiated the position with the fire union four years ago, Select Board member Michael Bettencourt said, and has been deferring ever since.
“We’ve deferred this long enough,” he said. “We want to focus on recruitment and retention. I hope we finally fund this.”
Miller, however, took exception with the motion to add the position back into the budget. He said he personally met with the fire chief to talk about the action.
“We love the Fire Department,” Miller said. “But there’s no identified source for this.”
Miller said it’s up to other boards, like the Select Board, to come up with funding sources and present them to the Finance Committee. He said he believed the position could be deferred for one more year.
Town Meeting, in its closest vote this spring, disagreed. The motion, with an amendment to fund the position in this budget, passed with 91 in the affirmative, 39 in the negative and 8 abstentions.
Other business
Monday night’s business kicked off with the consent agenda, which focuses on articles not likely to be debated. Articles 2, 5, 7, 11-16, 31 and 35 were passed by 2/3 vote.
Additionally, Article 27 was indefinitely postponed by its proponent the Finance Committee. Miller said the board is looking to fix the way the town uses both the building and capital stabilization funds. He said in December 2001, former town manager Brian Sullivan presented the funds and defined how they would work.
The problem, Miller said, is that in the override text of 2002, the purpose of the funds grew with no limits and broader definitions. He said there are definite ways to fix the problem, via guidelines from the state Department of Revenue.
“The purpose of the funds need to match the funding levels,” Miller said.
When asked why the motion should be postponed, Miller said there have been discussions with the Select Board to move in the suggested direction.
“The only way to succeed is if the Select Board takes charge,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who does it, just that it gets done.”
Prior said the Select Board plans to work with the Finance Committee, Planning Board, Capital Planning Committee, DPW and any other stakeholders that need to be in on the discussion.
Town Meeting will reconvene for its fourth session on Thursday, May 9 at 6:30 p.m. at Winchester High School, where it is expected to take up the education budget as well as the gymnasium floor. The meeting will also be live streamed on WinCam.
Winchester News is a non-profit organization supported by our community. If you appreciate having local Winchester news, please donate to support our work, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
