Politics & Government

Town Meeting: No Conservation Restricton or Bus Depot on Landfill Site

On an opening night that drew nearly 1,000 voters—most of whom stayed until midnight—annual Town Meeting worked through budget business, school transportation articles and its consent calendar.

 

In a five-hour opening night, Concord’s annual Town Meeting on Monday  voted to put neither a conservation restriction nor a bus depot on the landfill site at Walden Woods.

It did, however, approve a non-binding petitioner’s article requesting the town’s school committees to keep Concord’s school bus transportation department on the grounds of Concord-Carlisle High School.

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Here’s a quick rundown of the actions taken at Town Meeting on Monday, April 22. Be sure to check back on Patch for more in-depth coverage of the meeting and, in particular, the school-transportaiton related articles.

Article 2, Consent Calendar

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In one sweeping vote, Town Meeting unanimously approved articles 3, 4, 5, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 45, 47, 50, 54 and 63. Generally, the consent calendar is made up of annual items—like the Light Plant’s payment in lieu of taxes agreement and enterprise funds—and house-keeping or otherwise non-controversial articles.

Article 6, Town Budget

Town Meeting easily passed a $35,908,470 budget, which Town Manager Chris Whelan said should allow the town to continue to provide services at a level residents are accustomed to while also making modest increases in personnel and investiments in operating systems.  

Article 7, Concord Public Schools Budget

The approximately $31.1 million budget for CPS passed, but not without some critique and a question that proved surprisingly difficult to answer. Speaking for the League of Women Voters of Concord and Carlisle, Nancy Cronin said this year marks the first time in recent member the league has not recommended affirmative action on the school budget, and it’s doing so because the school committee failed to provide budget information in a “timely fashion.” Then, a resident asked what a “No” vote would mean. Officials scrambled for an answer, with Town Counsel saying municipalities are mandated to provide funding to support public schools, but he’s unsure about the steps to mandate the funding. “Perhaps the bottom lineanswer is chaos, or at a minimum, confusion,” offered Town Moderator Eric Van Loon. But the point was moot as the motion passed. 

Article 10, Concord-Carlisle Regional High School Budget

Concord’s apportioned share of the regional high school budget was $16,943,064, but Town Meeting approved a total $35,000 in a symbolic shot at the School Committee. An amendment was made to slash $35,000 from the total,  as a show of displeasure over the doubling of the legal services budget. Supporters of the motion said they did not approve of officials spending $800-plus an hour on legal services when pressed for information about issues like the high school building project and plans for school transportation. Both the amendment and the amended budget passed, despite the fact that the reduction is not guaranteed to come out of legal services and it’s unclear how Concord trimming its contribution will affect Carlisle.

Article 12, Sale of Conservation Restriction – Former Landfill Site

Although a slim majority of the nearly 1,000 residents in attendance Monday night supported the conveyance of a conservation restriction on 35.4 acres of land off Walden Street to the Walden Woods Project for $2.8 million, the motion did not receive the two-thirds majority required for approval. Had it passed, the conservation restriction would have allowed the town to carry out its plans for solar generation and continue public works activities, but would have limited future activities and prohibited development of a bus depot there, as was proposed under Article 13.

Article 13, Use of CPS Capital Needs Stabilization Fund for Transportation Infrastructure

Town Meeting voted down the schools’ bid utilize the former landfill site for a bus depot, which would have, according to School Committee member Maureen Spada, kept transportation in-house “for as long as reasonably practical.” Article 13 would have required a two-thirds majority.

Article 14, To Keep the Concord School Bus Transportation D;epartment on the Regional High School Property

As the clock struck midnight, the final question was called and Concoridans capped off the opening night of annual Town Meeting by approving a non-binding petitoner’s article asking the Concord schools to keep school bus transportation department on the grounds of Concord-Carlisle High School. It could be a hollow victory, however, as the school committee has resolve—and reiterated its resolution—to outsource student transportation if Article 13 failed.


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