T 0 W N W A R R A N T
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
FRANKLIN, ss.
To the Constable of the Town of Wendell in the County of Franklin.
Greetings:
In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are hereby directed to notify and warn the inhabitants of said Town, qualified to vote in elections and in Town affairs, to meet at the Town Hall in said Town on Saturday, June 7, at 10 am, then and there to act on the following articles:
ARTICLE 1: To see if the Town will vote to accept the reports of Town Officials as printed in the Town Report, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 2: To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Town Treasurer, with the approval of the Selectboard, to borrow money from time to time in anticipation of the revenue of the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2014 in accordance with the provisions of the MGL Chapter 44, Section 4, and to issue a note or notes as may be given for a period of less than one year in accordance with MGL Chapter 44, Section 17, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 3: To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Town Treasurer to enter into compensating balance agreements during fiscal year 2015 as permitted by MGL Chapter 44, Section 53F, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 4: To see if the Town will vote to fix the salary, compensation, and expenses of all elected and appointed officials of the Town for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2014, as provided in MGL Chapter 41, as amended, and to see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate, or to transfer from available funds, or a combination thereof, the sum of $2,058,976 from taxation or such other sum of money as deemed necessary to defray such salaries and expenses for that period, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 5: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $89,545 to pay the fiscal year 2015 debt service on following loans, or take any action thereon.
Town Building Projects Construction $65,789 ($17,375 principle, $48,414 interest) Fiske Pond Purchase $12,588 ($12,000 principle, $588 interest) Property at 9 Morse Village Road $2,213 ($1,500 principle, $713 interest) Mahar Construction $8,955
ARTICLE 6: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $15,000 for the Reserve Fund, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 7: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $35,000 for the Capital Stabilization Fund, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 8: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $ 3,000 for the Insurance Reserve Fund or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 9: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $15,000 for the Unemployment Compensation Fund, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 10: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $15,000 for the Pension Reserve Fund, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 11: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $10,000 for the Town Treasurer to utilize for tax title expense, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 12: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $6,000 for the Independent Audit expenses, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 13: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $59,080 for Group Health Insurance, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 14: To see if the Town will vote to transfer the sum of $75,000 from the Stabilization Account for the purchase of a new or used Fire Department brush truck, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 15: To see if the Town will vote to transfer the sum of $50,000 from the Stabilization Fund to be used as a grant match in the event we are successful in obtaining a grant to purchase a new tanker for the Fire Department, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 16: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $1,650 to purchase and install warning lights on the Fire Department’s Ford Tahoe, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 17: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $5,000 for Fire Department Turnout Gear, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 18: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $6,536 as Wendell’s 10% match for the FY13 Assistance to Firefighters Grant to purchase new SCBA equipment, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 19: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $4,000 for Fire Department SCBA Masks, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 20: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $5,075 to pay for Wendell’s share of capital projects at Swift River School, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 21: To see if the Town will vote to transfer the sum of $34,891 from the Road Machinery Fund to the Stabilization Fund, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 22: To see if the Town will vote to transfer from the Stabilization Fund the sum of $120,000 for a Highway Department Road Grader, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 23: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $15,000 to pay for the replacement of the Senior Center Roof, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 24: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $8,000 to purchase and install equipment for the Town Hall Kitchen, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 25: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $2,900 to pay for a fire suppression system, gas hook up, and related construction costs for the Town Hall Kitchen, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 26: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $7500 to hire Fire Chief Emeritus Everett Ricketts to act as a consultant to the current Fire Chief and aid in the transition process, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 27: To see if the Town will vote to authorize a revolving account in accordance with the provisions of General Laws Chapter 44, Section 53E ½ to account for fees and donations collected for the Recreation Commission, such fund to be under the authority of the Recreation Commission, or take any action thereon. Monies from the fund may be used for Recreation Commission expenses, and expenditures shall not exceed the amount of $5,000 in Fiscal Year 2015.
ARTICLE 28: To see if the Town will vote to adopt Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 41, Section 97a, or take any action thereon.
In any town which accepts this section there shall be a police department established by the selectmen, and such department shall be under the supervision of an officer to be known as the chief of police. The selectmen of any such town shall appoint a chief of police and such other officers as they deem necessary, and fix their compensation, not exceeding, in the aggregate, the annual appropriation therefor. In any such town in which such appointments are not subject to chapter thirty-one, they shall be made annually or for a term of years not exceeding three years, as the selectmen shall determine, and the selectmen may remove such chief or other officers for cause at any time after a hearing. The chief of police in any such town shall from time to time make suitable regulations governing the police department, and the officers thereof, subject to the approval of the selectmen; provided, that such regulations shall become effective without such approval upon the failure of the selectmen to take action thereon within thirty days after they have been submitted to them by the chief of police. The chief of police in any such town shall be in immediate control of all town property used by the department, and of the police officers, whom he shall assign to their respective duties and who shall obey his orders. Section ninety-seven shall not apply in any town which accepts the provisions of this section. Acceptance of the provisions of this section shall be by a vote at an annual town meeting.
ARTICLE 29: To see if the Town will vote to adopt Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 48, Section 42 or take any action thereon.
Towns accepting the provisions of this section and sections forty-three and forty-four, or which have accepted corresponding provisions of earlier laws may establish a fire department to be under the control of an officer to be known as the chief of the fire department. The chief shall be appointed by the selectmen, and shall receive such salary as the selectmen may from time to time determine, not exceeding in the aggregate the amount annually appropriated therefor. He may be removed for cause by the selectmen at any time after a hearing. He shall have charge of extinguishing fires in the town and the protection of life and property in case of fire. He shall purchase subject to the approval of the selectmen and keep in repair all property and apparatus used for and by the fire department. He shall have and exercise all the powers and discharge all the duties conferred or imposed by statute upon engineers in towns except as herein provided, and shall appoint a deputy chief and such officers and firemen as he may think necessary, and may remove the same at any time for cause and after a hearing. He shall have full and absolute authority in the administration of the department, shall make all rules and regulations for its operation, shall report to the selectmen from time to time as they may require, and shall annually report to the town the condition of the department with his recommendations thereon; he shall fix the compensation of the permanent and call members of the fire department subject to the approval of the selectmen. In the expenditure of money the chief shall be subject to such further limitations as the town may from time to time prescribe. The appointment of the chief of the fire department in any town or district having a population of five thousand or less may be for a period of three years.
ARTICLE 30: To see if the town will vote to approve using $14,000 of the FY 14 Highway Department budget to pay for a survey and wetlands delineation from the Highway Garage to the Wendell Country Store as the first step in installing a walking path along this route, provided there are sufficient funds in said account to cover this expense as determined by the Road Commission or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 31: To see if the Town will vote to authorize the School Committee to enter into a contract for five years for school bus transportation as per M.G.L. Chapter 40, Section 4, or take any action in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 32: To see if the Town will vote to approve an amendment to the Articles of Agreement of the New Salem/Wendell Union School by replacing the second sentence in paragraph IV with the following sentence, or take any action in relation thereto:
A quorum shall be at least three (3) members of New Salem and three (3) members of Wendell for a meeting of the New Salem/Wendell School Committee.
ARTICLE 33: To see if the Town will vote to apply for, accept and expend any federal, state and private monies, such as Community Development Block Grants, Municipal Incentive Grant, Ready Resource Fund, Public Safety Grant, Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program Funds, etc., or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 34: To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectboard to declare certain items as surplus, and to trade in or sell surplus equipment, or take any thereon.
ARTICLE 35: To see if the Town will vote to transfer from available funds the sum of $200 to pay an Energy Committee bill of prior year, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 36: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $21,118 to cover the Snow and Ice Account deficit for FY14, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 37: To see if the Town will vote to transfer the sum of $118,987 from Free Cash to the Stabilization Account, or take any action thereon.
ARTICLE 38: To see if the Town will vote to adopt the following or take any action thereon: In order to protect our clean soil, water, and air, the Town of Wendell declares all land within our borders to be free from the process known as hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"). Under this ban, no individual or entity may engage in any fracking activity whatsoever, nor may any person or entity engage in prospecting with the intent to frack. Fracking for or prospecting with the intent to frack for natural gas is specifically prohibited. The only exception to this article is the drilling of wells for drinking water using safe and accepted industry standards.
ARTICLE 39: To see if the Town will vote to adopt the following resolution or take any action thereon:
RESOLUTION TO BAN FRACKED GAS PIPELINES AND TO CHAMPION SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
Whereas a proposed high-pressure pipeline carrying natural gas obtained through hydraulic fracturing, built and operated by Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C. (TGP, a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P.), may come through Wendell, or neighboring communities, bringing said fuel en route to Dracut, Massachusetts to be used for electricity generation; and
Whereas said pipeline goes against current Massachusetts commitments to renewable energies and combating global climate change; and
Whereas said pipeline would destroy or threaten unknowable amounts of forest, conservation land and farmland; and
Whereas a high-pressure gas pipeline, by its nature, carries the potential for leak, rupture or devastating explosion, causing untold damage to property and lives, and that leaks, ruptures, and explosions occur regularly at such pipelines throughout the country; and
Whereas the cost of said pipeline would require Massachusetts citizens to pay a utility bill tariff as well as environmental costs not required by law for TGP’s actions, making ratepayers bear financial risk for the endeavors of a private corporation; and
Whereas, we the citizens of Wendell, Massachusetts choose not to participate in such encumbrances to the life, vibrancy, economic stability, and general well being to ourselves and our neighbors in Franklin County and elsewhere, wherever hydraulic fracturing is occurring and the pressurized pipeline is running; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, that the people of Wendell, Massachusetts:
1. Hereby call on our Selectboard to oppose TGP's high-pressure pipeline and not allow it with in our town borders; and
2. Hereby instruct our state and federal legislators and executive branch officials to enact legislation and take such other actions as are necessary to disallow such projects that go against our commitments to life, the environment, our economic well being and our bodily safety, and, instead, to legislate more stringent energy efficiency and further exploration of and subsidies for renewable energy sources.
ARTICLE 40: To transact any other legal business that may come before said meeting, or take any action thereon.
And you are directed to serve this Warrant by posting up attested copies thereof at the Wendell Town Office Building, 7 days at least prior to the time of holding said meeting.
Hereof fail not, and make due return of this Warrant with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk, at the time and place of meeting, as aforesaid.
Given under our hands this 29th day of May in the year of our Lord two thousand and fourteen.
___________________________________ { SELECTBOARD___________________________________ { OF
___________________________________ { WENDELL
A true copy. Attest: _____________________________________, Constable.
