Middleboro Spring Town Meeting set for April 26

Daniel Schemer\

Published Apr 22, 2021

MIDDLEBORO — The Spring Annual Town Meeting will be happening on Monday, April 26, beginning at 7PM, at the Nichols Middle School Auditorium.

A list of 32 articles will be decided. Articles 2-5 will focus on the FY22 operating budget, the Enterprise Funds, and related funds and accounts for the Town. 

Before the Annual Meeting will be small Special Town Meeting with an additional eight articles focused on mainly fund transfers, previous year expenses, and one big borrow. 

One of the articles for Special Town Meeting is related to the new DPW Building nearing completion. The first is to borrow an additional $250,000 to cover all contingency costs that couldn’t be covered in the original bid. 

DPW Director Chris Peck explained that while the original bid of $15.1 million for the new building covered main and fixed equipment, the reserve contingency funds couldn’t cover all soft costs, such as storage racks, wood benches, a new equipment shed, a new vehicle power washing system, and other safety equipment that no longer meets OSHA standards. 

Jeff Alberti from design & engineering firm Weston & Sampson stated they “spent a lot of time with the contractor trying to avoid increased costs.” 

Ultimately, Covid-related cost increases in the market for items and materials, as well as related scheduling issues, led to higher contingency costs. 

Ultimately, the Board was disappointed at the high number, but understood the circumstances.

“Now is not the time to cut corners,” said Mark Germain, Selectmen.

Selectmen Neil Rosenthal agreed. “Let’s just finish the building and put it behind us.”

Moving on to the Annual Town Meeting, here is a summary of the major articles to watch for:

Article 6:  $52,000 for a payroll service for the town.

Article 7:  $31,000 for repairs to the Stony Brook Dam and Seawall at Pratt Farm. This amount is contingent on receiving a grant from the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. 

Article 12:  $160,000 for a new dump truck for the Water Department. 

Article 13:  $150,000 for 2 Chevrolet trucks with plow attachments for the Water Department.

Article 16:  $42,150 from the Historic Resources Reserve for interior painting as part of restoration at the Oliver House.

Article 18:  $50,000 from the Budgeted Reserve for restoration efforts at the Nemasket Hill Cemetery Meeting House.

Article 19:  $44,000 and $136,000 from reserve accounts for continued restoration at Oliver Mill Park. 

Articles 21-25:  These 4 articles pertain to updating and revising the Town Charter.

Article 21 has already generated the most controversy as it proposes to modernize the language in the Charter by changing all pronouns to gender-neutral. 

The Board is split on its support for this article. 

“This is an absurd article based on political correctness gone crazy,” said Rosenthal, who doesn’t support the article. 

Charter Study Committee Chair Brian Giovanoni explained this is how many other municipalities in the state have approached this.  “This was discussed at length for many meetings. We looked at all options. This was voted on by the committee as the way we want to approach it,” he said. 

Fellow Committee member Paula Fay concurred that “other communities are making these changes.”

Board Chair Leilani Dalpe supported the article: “Despite legislation and administrative polices, there is embedded gender bias, and we’re all guilty of it. It’s subliminal and not all inclusive. I support this.”

The Select Board voted down its support of Article 21 by a narrow vote of 2-3. 

Article 26:  $52,480 to reimburse around 57 families of students who had their 2020 Senior Class Trips cancelled last April because of states shutting down. 

Families spent $2,150 per student for this trip. The school district worked hard to get the actual travel company to refund the money that it did. That company has since gone out of business. Most of the families received reimbursements of $1,120, almost half the initial deposit, back in August. 

Many attempts were made after to get the insurance company to honor the claims for the rest of the refund. The School District and families have since filed claims with the Attorney General over disputes with the insurance company. The claims have gotten little response.

The end result is the Town wants to make things right with these families.

The vote itself is to authorize a home rule petition submitted to the General Court that would allow the town this reimbursement, which would come from Free Cash. 

Article 30:  Renaming the intersections of Center Street, North Main Street, Wareham Street, and South Main Street – the Four Corners – in honor of Norman E. Record, former Middleboro police officer and veteran.