Thirty-eight articles are expected to be considered by Town Meeting members next month, as annual Town Meeting begins May 4.
Among the 38, nine are citizen petitions, of which five are expected to be withdrawn, according to town officials. The rest are expected to be considered on the first night of Town Meeting.
For the first time since 2020, the plan is to incorporate consent agendas, which group together articles that are typically routine or expected to be non-controversial. To increase the efficiency of Town Meeting, three articles have been included as part of a consent agenda: Article 2, authorization to represent the town’s legal interests; Article 28, appropriating enterprise funds to support the operations of the town’s water and sewer; and Article 37, appropriating money to the Other Post-Employment Benefits Stabilization Fund.
Other articles expected to be considered on the first evening of Town Meeting include Article 16, which has multiple motions, one for each of the proposed Community Preservation Act projects.
According to Select Board Chair Matt Taylor, the first motion is to appropriate funds to the various buckets: open space and recreation, historic preservation and housing. At least 10% of the money must be appropriated to each bucket. The remainder of the motions will be to appropriate money to the following projects: $2.1 million to the redevelopment of Sherman Gardens; $500,000 for the Belmont Community Path acquisition; $250,000 to match funds for the design of Phase 2 of the Belmont Community Path; $80,000 to Beaver Brook Invasive Species Management; and, finally, $35,000 to the Brendan Grant Field flagpole project.
All projects received a favorable recommendation from the Select Board last week. Member Carol Berberian, who was elected on April 7, abstained from the final vote, as she was among the original members of the project proposal group.
Article 26seeks to appropriate $125,000 to benefit a pilot paramedic training program. Administered by the Belmont Fire Department, the town is looking to “bolster” its advanced life support (ALS) services.
“There’s a shortage of paramedics throughout the state; Belmont is not immune to this,” said Taylor.
The funds would pay for the training program – a two-year pilot – and the overtime needed to cover positions that are missed while the person is at training. According to Town Administrator Patrice Garvin, the drafting of a memorandum of understanding between the union and the town is underway.
“I think it’s a fabulous idea,” said Yates. “ALS is critical to saving people’s lives.“
Other articles to be considered later in the warrant include disbanding the Municipal Ice Rink Building Committee and the Library Building Committee. Another article seeks to appropriate $126,000 for the installation of new flooring at the Beech Street Senior Center.
Article 32 seeks to amend the Senior Tax Work-off Program to permit an eligible participant who is unable to perform program services due to a medical necessity to appoint a qualified proxy on their behalf.
According to the town website, the following dates have been set aside for Town Meeting: May 4, May 6, May 18, May 20, June 1, June 3, June 8 and June 10. The meeting will be held in a hybrid format in the auditorium of Belmont High School.
