Town Meeting - Apr 28th, 2025

First night of town meeting. Materials were available from https://arlington.novusagenda.com/Agendapublic/MeetingView.aspx?MeetingID=2254&MinutesMeetingID=-1&doctype=Agenda.

Approval of Satellite Room

(Greg Christian, Town Moderator) Mr. Christiana asks Town Meeting to vote on consent to the use of a satellite room.

(Carl Wagner, Precinct 15, Point of Order) Mr. Wagner says people need to know what the voting options are.

(Greg Christiana) Mr. Christiana tells town meeting to press 1 for yes, to press 2 for no, and to press 3 to abstain.

The vote is 151--1--0.

(Mark Rosenthal, Precinct 14, Point of Order) Mr. Rosenthal says that town meeting usually starts with a test vote.

(Greg Christiana) Mr. Christiana says that consenting to the use of the satellite room is our test vote.

(Elaine Crowder, Precinct 19, Point of Order) Ms. Crowder asks how we'll determine whether people who didn't vote intended not to vote.

(Greg Christiana) Mr. Christiana says we'll take the vote again.

Vote passes, 214--2--3.

(Greg Christiana) Mr. Christiana reviews use of the handset to get on the speaking queue. Press 1 to add yourself to the queue. Press 1 again to remove yourself from the queue.

Announcements

There are no announcements this evening.

Article 2 - State of the Town Address

(Diane Mahon, Select Board) Ms. Mahon welcomes people to the 2025 Annual Town Meeting. She says that Arlington is a great town that values diversity, equity, and inclusion. She thanks the 250th committee for a successful Patriots Day weekend, which took two years of planning.

The police department and fire department work to maintain a high degree of preparedness. The Fire Department has converted to all-electric tools and the Police Department is establishing a new traffic safety enforcement program. There's a new trash program coming on July 1st.

The DPW's tree division planted 240 trees last year.

The Robbins Park Playground was opened, and renovations of other playgrounds are on the way. We've completed phase three of the Arlington High School reconstruction and the DPW's new facility on Grove Street is fully occupied.

Arlington now has a speed limit of 25 MPH throughout the town and all of the special speed regulations have been rescinded.

The Select Board revised Arlington's alcohol policy. There's no longer a requirement to order food in order to have more than two drinks.

The Select Board has made the overnight parking pilot permanent.

Arlington became the first municipality with a community electric program where the default is 100% renewables, and we're working to close combined sewer overflow outlets in the Alewife Brook.

The town received several grants as a result of compliance with the MBTA Communities Act, including a $4M grant to improve the intersection of Mass Ave and Appleton Street. We're also doing design work on the park Ave Safety Project.

Article 3 - Reports of Committees

Town meeting receives reports from the Select Board, Redevelopment Board, and Finance Committee.

Article 4 - Appointment of the Measurer of Wood and Bark

John Worden (Precinct 8) is nominated to this ceremonial position.

Article 5 - Assistant Town Moderator

Adam Auster (Precinct 16) is chosen as the assistant moderator.

Consent Agenda

The following articles were removed from the consent agenda:

• Chris Loreti (Precinct 7) removed articles 34 and 35.
• Greg Dennis (Precinct 1) removed Article 41
• Steve Moore (Precinct 18) removed Article 47.
• Brooks Harrelson (Precinct 16) removed Article 57.
• Christopher Moore (Precinct 14) removed Article 69.
• Andrew Fischer (Precinct 6) removed Article 28.
• Jon Gersh (Precinct 18) removed Article 30.
• Kristin Anderson (Precinct 11) removed Article 36.
• Andrew Greenspon (Precinct 5) removed Article 38.
• John Worden (Precinct 8) removed Article 44.

The majority vote consent agenda passes, 217--1--2.

The two-thirds vote consent agenda passes, 217--1--2.

Article 6 - Town Meeting Procedural Rules

(Diane Mahon, Select Board) Ms. Mahon says the Select Board recommended favorable action by a vote of 5--0. She introduces Rebecca Gruber who will speak to the article.

(Rebecca Gruber, Precinct 8, Town Meeting Procedures Committee) Ms. Gruber says that Article 6 is intended to improve the efficiency of voice votes. It will allow the moderator to ask for a vote of "yea" or "nay" instead of "yes" or "no". Electronic and standing votes won't be impacted by this article. The Town Meeting Procedures Committee asks for approval of the article.

Ms. Gruber motions an amendment from the floor, to correct wording of the main motion.

(John Worden, Precinct 8) Mr. Worden didn't vote for this because he missed the meeting where it was voted on. Had he been there, he would have voted against it. He says the original rules for town meeting were for "yes" and "no" rather than 17th century language. He doesn't see why we should go back to that. What's next, will we be saying that women can't vote? None of the town moderators ever had trouble discerning "yes" and "no", and we should keep that language.

(Ezra Fischer, Precinct 4) Mr. Fischer would like Town Meeting to be friendly to new people. He thinks that "yea" and "nay" sound like a special club.

(Carl Wagner, Precinct 15) Mr. Wagner asks what problem this is solving, and how it's supposed to make things better.

(Greg Christiana, Town Moderator) Mr. Christiana says that "yes" and "no" have different volume levels. "Yea" and "nay" have the same vowel sound so the volumes are similar.

(Carl Wagner) Mr. Wagner asks if all of the words could be used at the same time.

(Greg Christiana) Mr. Christiana explains how this would work. During a voice vote he'd say "all in favor say yea" or "all opposed say nay". People could respond with different words, but they can do that today.

(Adam Lane, Precinct 3) Mr. Lane moves the question.

(Nancy Bloom, Precinct 18, Point of order) Ms. Bloom says the font used to display the speaker queue is too small.

Gruber amendment passes: 176--37--4.

Article passes: 187--32--1.

Article 7 - Energy Efficiency and Electrification Revolving Fund

(Diane Mahon, Select Board) Ms. Mahon says the Select Board voted to recommend Article 7, 5--0. She introduces Talia Fox to speak to the article.

(Talia Fox, Planning Department) Ms. Fox says that Article 7 proposes to establish a revolving fund for energy-related projects. The town gets grants and incentives for electrification, but the money often arrives long after we've payed for goods and services. For example, the Federal Elective Pay/Direct Program funds recently came in, and these were deposited into the general fund. She says that a revolving fund will make it easier to take advantage of grant or project opportunities. She says the revolving fund would offset the Capital Budget, which is how these projects are funded today. Town meeting would authorize the spending cap each year. Several other municipalities have similar funds.

(Eric Helmuth, Select Board) Mr. Helmuth offers an amendment, to correct two errors in the Select Board report. The report was missing the $250,000 cap.

(Ed Tremblay, Precinct 19) Mr. Tremblay asks if this will give the town the ability to enter into projects without going through town meeting.

(Michael Cunningham, Town Counsel) Mr. Cunningham answers in the negative.

(Ed Tremblay) Mr. Tremblay asks "where will the substation go?".

(Greg Christiana, Town Moderator) Mr. Christiana says that question's not in scope of the article.

(Paul Bayer, Precinct 13) Mr. Bayer says there's no connection between Ms. Fox's presentation slides and what's in the Select Board report. He disagrees with Town Counsel's earlier statement, and thinks that money could be spent without explicit authorization from Town Meeting. He supports the idea, but thinks the motion doesn't do what's intended.

(Vince Baudoin, Precinct 1) Mr. Baudoin thinks the language around "fees and charges" seems vague. He asks if this could be used to pay utility bills.

(Jim Feeney, Town Manager) Mr. Feeney says the fund would not be used to pay utility costs.

(Vince Baudoin) Mr. Baudoin asks about money going into the fund. Will that be from grants and similar sources?

(Michael Cunningham) Mr. Cunningham answers in the affirmative.

(Chris Loreti, Precinct 7) Mr. Loreti asks if the high school rebates would have gone into this fund, had it existed at the time.

(Talia Fox) Ms. Fox answers in the affirmative.

(Chris Loreti) Mr. Loreti has an issue with that. He thinks that any rebates should be used to pay down the debt on the high school. He says that Town Meeting will have no say except for the fund's expense cap, and it takes Town Meeting out of the picture.

(Gordon Jamieson, Precinct 12) Mr. Jamieson says there's quite a lot of solar on School Buildings. He asks if they'll have their own fund.

(Alex McGee, Town Manager's office) Mr. McGee says school projects wouldn't be funded through this revolving fund.

There's back and fourth about the Capital Planning Committee.

(Gordon Jamieson) Mr. Jamieson says there will be larger fund in the future. He thinks that rebates for school projects should go to the school.

It's 9:30, and we take a ten-minute break.

(Greg Christiana) Mr. Christiana says he's spoken with a few people during the break, and believes the main motion is not in scope of the original article. He would entertain a motion to postpone discussion on this article.

(Al Tosti, Precinct 17) Mr. Tosti motions to postpone until May 5th.

Motion to postpone approved by voice vote.

Article 8 - Canine Control

(Michael Cunningham, Town Counsel) Mr. Cunningham says this is an effort to amend the town's canine control bylaw to make it compliant with a change to the state law, called "Ollie's Law".

(Jaclyn Munson, Assistant Town Counsel) Ms. Munson says the new state law provides more protection for kennels and dogs, along with a requirement for periodic inspections. The enabling regulations were promulgated in 2026. Kennels owners will need to to track licenses, report injuries, and verify that dogs have rabies tags. Kennel owners will still have to maintain licenses.

(Juli Brazile, Town Clerk) Ms. Brazile says there are additional changes to clean up the wording in the bylaw, use language from the state law where possible, and remove outdated references. She says the Bayer amendment, if adopted, would require dogs to be on leashes no longer than 6'. Late fees for license renewal are $25, but police can ticket dog owners $50 for having an unlicensed dog. There's no license fee for service animals.

(Beth Ann Friedman, Precinct 15) Ms. Friedman asks why the section that waived fees for owners over 70 was taken out.

(Juli Brazile) Ms. Brazile says that came from a recommendation by Attorney Munson. That section of the bylaw depended on local option legislation that the town never adopted.

(Beth Ann Friedman) Ms. Friedman says she'd like to amend the main motion, to put that section back.

(Jaclyn Munson) Ms. Munson says that section can't be part of the bylaw, because the town never adopted the local option legislation it refers to. The clause currently has no effect.

(Eugene Benson, Precinct 10) Mr. Benson says he's spoken to the Town Clerk, and the main motion may need some administrative corrections.

(Juli Brazile) Ms. Brazile acknowledges there are some typos and scriveners errors. She walks through them.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks if there's anything in state law that required dogs to be tethered.

(Jaclyn Munson) Ms. Munson says there is.

(Sanjay Newton, Precinct 10) Mr. Newton moves the question.

Motion to end debate passes by a voice vote.

Bayer amendment adopted, 150--48--5.

Article 8 passes, 200--8--5.

Article 9 - Observance of Town Employee Holidays

(Diane Mahon, Select Board) Ms. Mahon says the Select Board held two nights of hearings on this article. She introduces Town Manager Jim Feeney to explain it.

(Jim Feeney, Town Manager) Mr. Feeney says that Article 9 amends the town's HR bylaw, and changes the treatment of holidays that fall on Saturday as a clearly defined day. It will bring unionized and non-unionized employees on the same holiday schedule. This includes New Years Day, Juneteenth, Veterans Day, Christmas, and Independence Day. Saturday holidays will be observed on the preceding Friday.

(Nancy Bloom, Precinct 18) Ms. Bloom asks why Christmas and Christmas Day are listed separately.

(Michael Cunningham) Mr. Cunningham says that referring to Christmas Eve Day and Christmas Day.

(Steve Moore, Precinct 18) Mr. Moore asks if Christmas Eve day is a holiday.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney answers in the affirmative.

Article passes, 203--2--1.

Article 10 - Poet Laureate of Arlington

(Len Diggins, Select Board) Mr. Diggins says the Select Board unanimously supported Article 10, which would allow a Poet Laureate that doesn't reside in Arlington. He says we've had a hard time finding one in recent years, so the board wanted to broaden the search area.

(Christian Klein, Precinct 10, Point of Order) Mr. Klein says the time clock hasn't been used for the last few speakers.

(Carl Wagner, Precinct 15) Mr. Wagner says his dad was a poet and his brother was the Poet Laureate of Amesbury. He thinks that Arlington's Poet Laureate should be from Arlington. He encourages a no vote, saying this isn't necessary.

(Gulliermo Hamlin, Precinct 14) Mr. Hamlin doesn't see a reason for proceeding. He thinks that Arlington could be more affordable in order to keep poets in town. He thinks we can avail ourselves of college students that graduated from Arlington High.

(Chris Loreti, Precinct 7) Mr. Loreti asks if this is a compensated position.

(Len Diggins) Mr. Diggins says the position is not funded, but the Arlington Commission for Arts and Culture provides support by funding events.

(Chris Loreti) Mr. Loreti says he doesn't support this.

(Paul Schlichtman, Precinct 9) Mr. Schlichtman says he was trying to think of a line about residency at Poet's corner (laughs). He says there are people with strong Arlington connections that would be good Poet Laureate. For example, English teachers that can't afford to live here.

(Junko Nagano, Precinct 11) Ms. Nagano thinks the wording around "necessary support" seems open and unbounded.

(Len Diggins) Mr. Diggins says that's part of the existing bylaw, and isn't being amended.

(Michael Cunningham, Town Counsel) Mr. Cunningham explains that the stricken text is the only part that's changing.

(Beth Ann Friedman, Precinct 15) Ms. Friedman thinks the Poet Laureate should be a resident of Arlington. She suggests filing a warrant article that allows people with close ties to be eligible.

(Daniel Jalkut, Precinct 6) Mr. Jalkut moves the question.

Motion to end debate passes by voice vote.

Article passes, 108--100--3.

Article 11 - Arlington Historical Commission Inventory

(Diane Mahon, Select Board) Ms. Mahon says the Select Board recommends favorable action on Article 11. It will allow homeowners to appeal the placement of their property on historical inventories. She says there are issues with the Historic Structures Inventory (HSI), and this can create issues for homeowners.

(Lois Kaznicki, Citizen Petitioner) Ms. Kaznicki says she's not against the Historical Commission. The town bylaw allows the Historical Commission to add properties to the HSI, but there's no way for home owners to make corrections if their property has no historic significance, or if it was modified without referral to the Historical Commission. She wants relief for homeowners. Any change that affects 25% of the facade requires a public hearing.

The Historic Commission was originally unsupportive but has since come around. In speaking with them, Ms. Kaznicki added extra time for the Commission to review appeals. She thinks there should be a process whereby homeowners can petition for relief.

(Michael Ruderman, Precinct 9) Mr. Ruderman was a member of the Historical Commission for eleven years. He says there may have been reasons why properties were included, but he's in favor of this article. It will give the Historical Commission the opportunity to examine their records and make corrections. Or, to make the case that a property does indeed have historical significance.

(Joanne Robinson, Historical Commission) Ms. Robinson says the Commission has worked with the Select Board and Town Counsel and voted to recommend a yes vote. This will make the removal process consistent and transparent. Properties have been removed in the past, not related to demolition delays.

(Pamela Meister, Historical Commission) Ms. Meister says that members of the Historical Commission were concerned when they first heard about this article. The Commission has been down two commissioners for fifteen years. She says the 60 day review is better for the Commission. She doesn't think the bylaw change is necessary, but she's happy to do it. Documentation from the 1970s and 1980s is very scant, and some properties have changed over the years.

It's 22:58 and there's a motion to adjourn. We'll continue with Article 11 on Wednesday.