Crypto ATMs, snow removal bylaw among possible Town Meeting discussions

Four months out from Town Meeting, the warrant is already beginning to take shape.

Beside the routine articles like approving the town budget, Town Administrator Cody Haddad proposed two possible others: changing the current snow removal bylaw and prohibiting crypto ATMs in town.

At a Select Board meeting on Monday, Feb. 9, Haddad noted that the current snow removal bylaw from 1947 states that residents have four hours to clear the snow off their sidewalks after a storm before they could receive a fine. 

He said that this bylaw has worked for “a number of years” but noted that there are some details that the town would “probably want to update.”

“What if you work, you’re in the office [and] the snowstorm ends at say, 10 a.m. Does that mean you have to leave work early … [to] have your sidewalk cleared by 2 p.m.?” Haddad said.

When it comes to crypto ATMs, Haddad said that they are often used “essentially for fraudulent activities” and can take advantage of users.

Crypto ATMs are locations where people can go buy cryptocurrency — which is a form of digital money — like Bitcoin. Haddad noted that when someone wants to buy cryptocurrency, they will most often do so through a brokerage firm or with an accountant.

Despite the fact that crypto ATMs aren't the most common form of purchasing cryptocurrency, there are currently several crypto ATMs in Dartmouth, including at Dartmouth Market Liquor and Dartmouth Laundromat.

“[Crypto buyers] aren’t going to these crypto ATMs,” Haddad said. “The FBI has essentially said that they’re places for crime.”

If a Town Meeting article prohibiting crypto ATMs passes, then they would all be removed and businesses would be prohibited from installing them.