Town Meeting approved all 17 articles

After less than two hours, all 17 of the articles for Fall Town Meeting were approved, many of which were approved almost unanimously. 

These included the articles to conserve the land where the Hawthorne Country Club was, and raise the escaped animals and snow shoveling fines.  

A majority of the articles were “housekeeping,” or articles debated at each Town Meeting, according to Town Administrator Cody Haddad. The housekeeping articles mostly moved surplus. 

The town approved a total of $4,001,236 in funding from the Surplus Revenue, Water Enterprise Fund and the Sewer Enterprise Fund. The full list of requests can be found on the town website. 

These requests included things such as destroyed town vehicles and UV bulbs for the wastewater treatment facility. 

Town Meeting approved the town to borrow up to $5,500,000 for upgrades to the sewer system, which include aeration upgrades. This would make it more effective and efficient, potentially cutting costs for the consumer as well. This is necessary for the incoming housing projects. 

This project would be combined with a grant of $250,000 from the state for aeration improvements and done at the same time as the proposed street upgrades from Faunce Corner Road to Hathaway Road. The town will put the project out to bid in April and potentially combine the projects. 

The town was approved to pay $45,000 to replace an Animal Control van that was totaled during a collision by a drunk driver. Insurance only covered $20,000.

Town Meeting approved the proposal to raise the fine for escaped animals from $50 an incident to $300 an animal following a warning. According to Haddad, in the past five years a total of 44 citations have been issued. 

This proposal was prompted in part by a cow that escaped from Robinson Farm and totaled a police cruiser, requiring a $75,000 replacement. This was not the first time a cow from that farm had escaped onto Interstate 195.

The funding for a conservation restriction on the previous Hawthorne Country Club land was approved. The restriction will cost $2.3 million, of which the town will be paying $1 million. This will conserve around 25 to 27 acres of land. 

A developer associated with the Buzzards Bay Coalition will purchase the remaining 29 to 31 acres, and develop it into an estimated 65 units of market-rate 55-plus housing. 

The land was previously owned by a 40B developer who planned to build 138 housing units with a mix of one, two and three bedrooms. The current owner, The Residences at Hawthorne LLC, has agreed to sell the land to the developer if the conservation restriction is approved. 

Buzzards Bay Coalition President Mark Rasmussen said conserving the land would guide growth away from sensitive resources such as the town’s water supply and the Paskamansett River. The adjacent land is mapped as “Core Habitat” and “Critical Natural Landscape” by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species program The project would also expand the river conservation corridor. 

Should the development pass through the appropriate boards, the conserved land would be available to the public. The entire property would be used for development if the project does not receive the appropriate funding. 

The proposal to raise the snow removal fines from $25 for the general public, or $300 for businesses or those within a mile of a public school was approved. This applies 24 hours after the storm finishes, and another fine is applied for each day the snow is not removed. 

This was originally pitched at Spring Town Meeting in June, but was postponed. The current bylaw, written in 1947, gives residents four hours after a snowstorm to clear snow. After four hours residents can face a fine of $25.

There were two amendments that were voted down for this bylaw. The first would have clarified that “schools” would only be Pre-K through grade 12, reduce the $300 fine to $100, add a warning day and remove the continuing violation. The second would’ve clarified the same details but instead of removing the continuing violation, it would have made it every two days for a maximum of three fines. 

The Council on Aging will be making a list of volunteers for those who are unable to safely shovel their own yards. 

A set of non-criminal fines of $300 for selling tobacco and restricted products, selling inhalable products or breaking public water system rules was created.

Town Meeting also approved the police to create contracts with tow companies, where they called one of a number of tow companies based on a schedule. They have been doing this for around 30 years, according to Police Chief Brian Levesque, but are now “codifying” it. They plan to continue with some of the tow companies they currently use, but could need new contracts in the future. 

Town Meeting also created a new part-time summer position of beach manager, a revolving fund for fixing police cruisers from funds the police collect, voted to allow the Water Department to create their own rules and changed the membership for the soil board to only members of the Board of Health.