Town Meeting - Apr 29th, 2026

Night two of Arlington's Annual Town Meeting. Materials were available from https://www.arlingtonma.gov/town-governance/town-meeting/2026-town-meeting-warrant.

Voting records: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/77540/639131439078800000.

Introduction

(Greg Christiana, Town Moderator) Mr. Christiana has several announcements for town meeting. Printed copies of the 2025 Annual report are at the back of the room. Precinct 17 will meet during the break to fill a vacancy. The town meeting tracker listed several articles has requiring a majority vote rather than two-thirds; these have been corrected. Petitioners with resolutions should provide their main motions to the moderator as soon as possible. Anyone wishing to speak in opposition to a resolution should contact the moderator. Materials posted to the annotated warrant must meet accessibility requirements, and the text of these documents should be accessible to screen readers.

Announcements

(Carmine Granucci, Precinct 21) Last week Arlington Brewing company won a gold medal at the World Brew Cup. One of their beers took top spot among 63 entries. Arlington Brewing Company will be serving at Saturday beer gardens, starting on May 16th.

(Kristin Anderson, Precinct 11) Ms. Anderson is speaking on behalf of Save the Alewife Brook. She thanks everyone who participated in last Saturday's cleanup effort. Tomorrow, the MWRA will release a document with a plan for the brook. Ms. Anderson says this plan will not end combined sewer overflows. Save the Alewife Brook is working on a community plan that does.

(Charlie Foskett, Precinct 10) Mr. Foskett is representing the Arlington Rotary Club. They're doing their annual Flags for Heros day at Park Ave circle, and you can sponsor a flag for $40. These funds go to support a scholarship program.

(Paul Selker, Precinct 9) Mr. Selker is a board member of YourArlington. Last year, the new outlet revamped its website and started a newsletter. YourArlington has published six articles about town meeting this year. He encourages people to subscribe to the newsletter.

(Al Tosti, Precinct 17) Mr. Tosti is looking for volunteers to help teach high school students about managing money. This will be at an event on June 11th.

Article 3 - Reports of Committees

Town meeting receives the Community Preservation Act Committee's report and the Library Impact Report.

Article 19 - Addition of Certain Delinquent Municipal Fees/Fines to be a Lien on Real Estate Tax Account

Deliberations resume on Article 19.

(Carl Wagner, Precinct 15) Mr. Wagner urges a no vote. He believes this article needs a threshold and asks "what do we do to people who live in this town?". Punishing people like immigrants would practically be a crime.

(Elizabeth Dray, Precinct 10) Ms. Dray asks if a criminal process is the only way we can pursue these delinquencies.

(Michael Cunningham, Town Counsel) Mr. Cunningham says that most are non-criminal. This article would expand the list of delinquencies that can become liens.

Article passes, 155-49--9.

Article 10 - Wetlands Protection

This article was postponed from Monday.

(Dean Carman, Precinct 20) Mr. Carman moves to postpone Article 10 until Monday. The warrant language mentions fees, fines, and clerical changes but the main motion goes well beyond that.

(Greg Christiana, Town Moderator) Mr. Christiana agrees there are scope issues with the main motion. He says the meeting could vote no action, or postpone discussion so the scope issues can be ironed out.

(Al Tosti, Precinct 17, Point of order) Mr. Tosti thinks the postponement date should be later.

(Greg Christiana) Mr. Christiana suggests May 13th.

(Dean Carman) Mr. Carman amends his motion to postpone to May 13th.

Motion to postpone passes by voice vote.

Article 16 - Town Fees and Charges

This article was postponed from Monday night.

(Greg Christiana, Town Moderator) Mr. Christiana says the discrepancy was due to a difference in line numbering. An edit was made to the Select Board's report after the motion for Article 16 was posted to the annotated warrant.

(Ezra Fischer, Precinct 4) Mr. Fischer would like to amend the main motion by replacing "marriage" with "marriage or domestic partnership" in the three places that "marriage" occurs.

(Nancy Bloom, Precinct 18, Point of order) Ms. Bloom says that the Parks and recreation memo gives operating hours that are different than what appears in the main motion.

(Paul Schlichtman, Precinct 9, Point of order) Mr. Schlichtman asks if we're debating and amendment to an article what will largely be nullified by Article 17.

(Greg Christiana) Mr. Christiana says that Article 17 will need to be reviewed by the Attorney General's office. The AG's office might find an issue with it, though Mr. Christiana suspects that's unlikely.

(Paul Schlichtman) Mr. Schlichtman moves the question.

Fischer amendment passes, 191--11--1.

Article passes, 190--17--4.

Article 21 - Home Equity Theft Ban

(John Hurd, Select Board Chair) Mr. Hurd says the Select Board voted to recommend no action on Article 21, on the understanding that home equity theft is already illegal.

(Guillermo Hamlin, Precinct 14) Mr. Hamlin says he intends to submit a substitute motion. His original idea for a substitute was a home rule petition, but that was ruled out scope. He'd like more time to work on a substitute motion. He motions to postpone deliberations until May 13th.

Motion to postpone passes, 140--61--5.

Article 22 - Use of Areas Under Control of Park Department

(John Hurd, Select Board Chair) Mr. Hurd says this article was submitted by Elaine Crowder, to help protect areas under the Park Department's jurisdiction. The Select Board voted to recommend favorable action by a vote of 5--0.

(Elaine Crowder, Precinct 19) Ms. Crowder has an amendment to her main motion which would add a severability clause, in case the AG's office pre-empts changes to the fines section. This article is not meant to punish but to raise awareness about what is to be protected. The current fine for damaging parkland is $40. The main motion adds to the list of protected resources and includes playing fields, naturalized lots, aquatic habitats, and meadows. There is an exemption for normal wear and tear. It adds $100 and $300 fine tiers, and highlights education as a tool.

(Ben Rudick, Precinct 5) Mr. Rudick supports the idea. He's an avid mountain biker and his three kids spend time at Hill's Hill park. He'd like to comment on the 5x5x3 hole that Ms. Crowder showed in her slides. Most of the pump track maintenance is performed by middle school students. The middle schoolers needed soil to reshape part of the track, they didn't have a budget for buying soil, and so they dug a hole to get it. The culture of mountain biking is to treat pump tracks as malleable and Mr. Rudick would not like to see the kids fined. He says the hole looks bad but it requires cultural context to understand. He hopes that the people enforcing the bylaw can have conversations with the people who use the parks.

(Matthew Miller, Precinct 11) Mr. Miller believes that people who vandalize parkland should be held accountable, and the parents should be responsible. He asks "who pays if we let people off?". Mr. Miller asks how many people have been fined more than $100.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney isn't aware of anyone who's been fined $100 or more.

(Abigail Reches, Precinct 4) Ms. Reches is concerned that fines will do little to curb damage, and minors won't care about them. She thinks this will be unevenly enforced and could be applied to homeless individuals living outdoors. Without a clear benefit, she could not support this article.

(Gordon Jamieson, Precinct 12) Mr. Jamieson supports the article and the amendment. The friends of the Robbins Farm Park do a lot of maintenance, and we spend millions to maintain our parklands. The slide at Robbins Farm Park has probably been unavailable 20% of the time due to damage.

(Steve Moore, Precinct 18) Mr. Moore appreciates the information about the culture of mountain biking. He was involved in the changes to Hill's Hill and there were questions about enforcement and maintenance, but Parks and Recreation never adequately addressed them. This park was intended to be both a place for passive recreation and a pump track. The mountain biking is expanding into the passive recreation areas. He thinks we need to support multiple uses in a fair and balanced way.

(Al Tosti, Precinct 17) Mr. Tosti moves the question.

Motion to end debate passes by voice vote.

Crowder amendment passes, 168--33--11.

Article passes, 177--33--4.

Article 23 - Tree Preservation and Protection

(John Hurd) Mr. Hurd says this is a citizen petition to amend the tree preservation bylaw to include trees 10" or more DBH which are not in setback areas. He applauds the petitioners desire to protect trees, but the Select Board felt this article needed more input from Town Departments, the Tree Committee, and the Tree Warden. The Select Board voted to recommend no action by vote of 5--0.

(Robin Bergman, Precinct 12) Ms. Bergman says her substitute motion has been endorsed by several groups. Despite our tree protection bylaw, Arlington has been losing trees. Global warming has gotten more dire. Trees have enormous benefits. Our bylaw protects trees in building setback areas and the substitute motion proposes to extend these protections to trees of 10" or more outside of setbacks. Cambridge, Newton, and Brookline all protect trees outside of setbacks. We will have redevelopment because of the MBTA Communities act and a future affordable housing overlay and we'll need to protect trees to keep the town liveable. We don't have many large trees in Arlington and the loss of one tree affects multiple properties. The current protection is effective and it has saved trees in the setbacks, but trees outside the setbacks are removed. Trees are a public good and we must have both trees and housing.

(Susan Stamps, Precinct 3) Ms. Stamps is a member of the tree committee. We want to save trees, but we also want to build housing. She asks if protecting trees in the interior of a lot will minimize the amount of building. She says the petitioners came to the tree committee in January, but there were no discussions after that. This motion isn't ready to evaluate, and we don't want to make new development uneconomic. Arlington plants around 300 trees per year, and we've lost very few trees because developers have figured out how to work with our tree protection bylaw. Somerville and Cambridge have urban forest departments, but Arlington only has one tree warden. She urges a no vote.

(Elizabeth Dray, Precinct 10, Point of order) Ms. Dray asks if the speaking queue will be shuffled.

(Marina Popova, Precinct 13) Ms. Popova supports the article for two reasons. First, the change does not effect private property owners whatsoever. It only matters during redevelopment. The second reason is 307 Washington St. It's a mostly-wooded lot and Boston Gas wants to redevelop their facility there. If this bylaw were in place, Boston Gas would have to pay more money or redesign their facility. She says this won't prevent development and she hopes people support it.

(Jennifer Cutraro, Precinct 11) Ms. Cutraro says there's nothing in the article that would prohibit people from removing trees, it would only impose a fee. She reads a portion of a letter of support from Mothers Out Front. The substitute motion isn't meant to halt development, only to have a more careful approach.

(Eugene Benson, Precinct 10) Mr. Benson urges a no vote. He's a lover of trees are there are twelve on his property. He says this will affect private property. If someone needed to take down a 10" tree in order to build an addition, they'd have to pay a $3750 fee. A couple bought a house on Mr. Benson's street and rebuilt it. This main motion would have cost them tens of thousands of dollars in fees. He says this could also apply to accessory dwelling units. Mr. Benson asks if this might violate the state's rules for allowing ADUs.

(Michael Cunningham, Town Counsel) Mr. Cunningham think that aspect is untested, but it would clearly impact ADUs.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson thinks it's important to protect tree. This isn't protecting them, it's just imposing a cost.

(Gordon Jamieson, Precinct 12) Mr. Jamieson commends the tree committee. He's concerned about growth. Without enough new growth we'll get more overrides. He urges a no vote.

(Rebecca Brenneis, Precinct 9) Ms. Brenneis says there seems to be confusion about whether this applies to private land. She asks why the protection bylaw only applies to new construction and development. She thinks this could incentivize clear-cutting before a property is sold.

(Michael Cunningham) Mr. Cunningham says this will apply to private property, but the conditions for applicability aren't being changed.

(Pat Hanlon, Precinct 5) Mr. Hanlon notes that the Select Board thought we needed more time to evaluate this proposal. He asks what they have in mind for studying.

(Jim Feeney, Town Manager) Mr. Feeney says he could foresee looking at projects with a tree plan, to see what would happen if such a change were in place.

(John Hurd) Mr. Hurd says the Select Board talked about involving the tree committee, town staff, and residents to discuss impact. He doesn't want to cause unforeseen issues, and felt it needed more vetting.

(Pat Hanlon) Mr. Hanlon asks if some of this vetting would happen, should town meeting decide to vote no.

(Steve Moore, Precinct 18) Mr. Moore says the tree committee has been mentioned several times, and there are tree committee members who would like to provide input.

(Pat Hanlon) Mr. Hanlon asks for the tree committee's position.

(Keith Schnebly, Precinct 5) Mr. Schnebly is a co-chair of the Tree Committee. Mr. Schnebly says the tree committee is very careful about vetting options, and they'd like the opportunity to work with the petitioners.

(Vince Baudoin, Precinct 1) Mr. Baudoin moves the question.

Motion to end debate passes, 163--47--1.

Substitute motion fails, 67--132--2.

Recommended vote of no action passes by voice vote.

Article 24 - 17 Irving Street Revolving Fund

(John Hurd, Select Board Chair) Mr. Hurd says the article will establish a revolving fund for town property at 17 Irving Street. This is the former Parmenter School.

(Charlie Foskett, Precinct 10) Mr. Foskett says there's term called "Balkanization", which refers to dividing territory up. This will Balkanize our revenues. Revenue from the Parmenter will be confined and we won't be able to use it for other purposes, like paying police officers or school teachers.

(Andy Greenspon, Precinct 5) Mr. Greenspon asks about the motivation for this revolving fund.

(Jim Feeney, Town Manager) Mr. Feeney says the town recently executed a fifteen-year lease for a portion of the Parmenter. The revolving fund will help with that in the area of utility metering, since the tenant will pay based on square footage. The tenant is also required to pay a certain amount for capital expenses related to the building upkeep.

(Andy Greenspon) Mr. Greenspon asks what would happen in town meeting fails to approve the article.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says revenues would go into the general fund, and utilities would be paid from the facilities budget.

(Andy Greenspon) Mr. Greenspon supports the article. He asks if revolving funds need to be renewed.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says that town meeting has to re-authorize revolving funds each year.

(Andy Greenspon) Mr. Greenspon thinks the prior speaker's remarks are not valid.

(Annie LaCourt, Precinct 13) Ms. LaCourt asks if monies going into the revolving fund will be for utilities and capital costs, but not rent.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says that's correct.

(Annie LaCourt) Ms. LaCourt asks if we'll be obligated to use the tenants capital payments on this building.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says yes.

(Gordon Jamieson, Precinct 12) Mr. Jamieson asks about the word "rental" in the third column of the table.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says the language in the table is generic, but we only intend to capture utility and capital payments.

(Michael Cunningham, Town Counsel) Mr. Cunningham says this article would create the revolving fund, but town meeting would have to approve the fund's cap.

(Gordon Jamieson) Mr. Jamieson asks what the cap is.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says the cap would be set next year. He expects the fund to take in $40,000/year for capital expenses and less than $100,000/year for utilities.

(Gordon Jamieson) Mr. Jamieson asks if revolving funds typically don't receive rents.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says that rents are general fund receipts.

(Christopher Moore, Precinct 14) Mr. Moore says that capture capital funds like this will make more money available for the general capital budget.

(Remy Macaluso, Precinct 3) Ms. Macaluso moves the question.

Motion to end deliberation passes by voice vote.

Article passes, 169--24--2.

Article 25 - Community Center Revolving Fund

(John Hurd, Select Board Chair) Mr. Hurd says this article will establish a revolving fund for the Community Center. The select board recommends favorable action by a vote of 5--0.

No one wishes to speak on the article.

Article passes, 174--11--4.

Article 26 - Recycling Revolving Fund

(John Hurd, Select Board Chair) Mr. Hurd says this article will update the recycling revolving fund for changes in the waste collection system. The Select Board voted to recommend favorable action, 5--0.

Article passes, 184--7--1.

Article 28 - Additional on Premises All Alcohol Licenses

(John Hurd, Select Board Chair) Mr. Hurd says the article would authorize the Select Board to file a home rule petition to increase the number of all-alcohol licenses from 20 to 30. The Select Board voted to recommend favorable action, 4--0--1.

Article passes, 173--6--4.

Article 29 - Recall Elections

(John Hurd, Select Board Chair) Mr. Hurd says that article 29 seeks authorization to file a home rule petition for revising the process for recall elections. The Select Board voted to recommend favorable action, 4--0--1.

(Juli Brazile, Town Clerk) Ms. Brazile says this process started over the summer in response to a question about recall elections. Our policy for handling recall elections is out of date and hard to administer. Conway recently passed legislation to update their recall election laws, so we started with that and made some adjustments. This home rule petition would comply with current election processes.

The general steps for a recall election would be: (1) fifty voters would sign a petition, (2) those seeking recall would have 20 days to collect signatures from 20% of registered voters, and (3) the Select Board would formally call for the recall election. These aspects are not being changed.

With this article, recall petition papers would show the first ten of the fifty signatories. The select board would schedule the election in 64--90 days, rather than 25--30.

Article passes, 188--1--0.

There's a motion to adjourn, which passes by voice vote.