Capital Budget, Solar Reconsideration Highlight ‘Last’ Night of Town Meeting

Photo: Sidewalk snow blower.

The goodies in the capital budget, revolving accounts and reconsidering the indefinitely delayed solar power amendment will be in the spotlight during the “last” night of the 2015 annual Town Meeting starting at 7 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, June 3 in the Chenery Middle School auditorium. 

Capital Budget Chair Anne Marie Mahoney will lead the discussion on the appropriation of capital expenditures – other than roads – totaling $1.8 million.

The requests – numbering 23 this year – run the gambit from $90,700 for a sidewalk snow blower for the DPW department and $123,000 for replacement radios for Belmont Police officers to $10,000 for a storage shed at the library to $62,500 to replace the Butler School boiler. 

The pavement management account of nearly $1.550 million for road reconstruction in fiscal 2016 (beginning July 1, 2015) is the largest in recent memory and reaches a level in which the town can not rebuild any more roads with any more available funds. 

There will also be eight revolving accounts that require reauthorization from Town Meeting. 

Also up before the annual legislative gathering will be the reconsideration of Article 9, the so-called solar power amendment which was “delay indefinitely” by members back in May during the first session of Town Meeting. Leading the effort to bring the article back from legislative cryonics will be Jim Williams who feels the members did not understand that they were voting to effectively kill the amendment.

Williams would have had a greater presence on center stage in this session with four citizen petitions accepted by the Town Clerk, but he told the Belmontonian on Monday, June 1, he would be withdrawing the petitions as the Board of Selectmen have agreed to move on the recommendations in three of the articles. 

It is expected that Town Meeting could adjourn tonight 

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