Westborough–After reviewing the 36-article warrant for the Oct. 20 Fall Town Meeting, the Board of Selectmen Sept. 9 said they may revisit the wisdom of keeping a standing meeting on the books for October.
“The fall meeting has turned into another March,” said Chairman George Barrette. “I would like for us to think, after this meeting obviously, if there needs to be a change. Our annual meeting is in March. It’s not now.”
Barrette said past practice of scheduling special meetings only when necessary helped concentrate important issues into the March meeting, which is held on a Saturday and draws more voters. The October meeting will be held on a Monday night starting at 7 p.m.
Items such as a $50,000 request from the School Committee to fund test-well drilling to see if a well can be used to support an irrigation system installed at the new Mill Pond School field are “not a surprise,” Barrette added, and should have been addressed in March, when the next fiscal year’s budget is finalized.
Selectman Denny Drewry agreed.
“If I was going to try to sneak something by voters, I would do it now,” he said, when fewer residents are engaged in the process.
Other articles of note include funding for a new fingerprint scanner for the police department; funds to cover the added costs associated with contract agreements with the teachers and fire fighters unions; $90,000 to improve WiFi access at Westborough High School; and less than $10,000 in funds to restore antique wood frames and prints found in storage areas as the town moved out of the old fire station.
The town will also try once again to win local and state approval to override the local cap on liquor licenses. An article seeking to lift the cap–similar to one approved by voters in 2012–would again put the issue before the state legislature, where previous efforts have stalled.
In other business, the board appointed seven members to the newly formed State Hospital Planning Committee. Those appointed were Earl Storey, Matt McCafferty, Warren Anderson, Brian Bush, Hazel Nourse, Gary Wittman, and Garry Kessler.
Ten people had applied for the slots. Selectman Ian Johnson was named the board’s liaison to the new committee.
