Town Meeting - May 7th, 2025

Night four of Arlington's annual town meeting. Materials were available from https://arlington.novusagenda.com/Agendapublic/MeetingView.aspx?MeetingID=2254&MinutesMeetingID=-1&doctype=Agenda.

Announcements

(Christine Deshler, Finance Committee) Ms. Deshler says the Finance Committee will have an open forum on June 4th. They're interested in getting feedback on the finance committee report. They also plan to do a survey.

(Al Tosti, Precinct 17) Mr. Tosti says there was a 250th anniversary celebration on April 19th, and one of those activities is still continuing. The exhibit at the Old Schwamb Mill will run until the end of May.

(Charlie Foskett, Precinct 10) Mr. Foskett's announcement is on behalf of the Rotary Club. The Rotary Club is doing its annual pledge to heroes campaign. Residents can honor someone with a flag, which will e placed around the Park Circle water tower. Money raised will be used for scholarships.

(Barry Jaspan, Precinct 18) Mr. Jaspan found an umbrella in the men's room. Contact him if it's yours.

(Len Diggins, Precinct 3) Mr. Diggins says the Road Scholars won a fire truck pulling competition last Saturday. The event is a benefit to raise money for cancer research.

(Arthur Prokosch, Precinct 4) Mr. Prokosch is a member of the AMPUp committee. Arlington is in the process of updating the town's Comprehensive Plan, and he encourages town meeting members to participate and spread the word. There are fliers on the back table with links to a survey. The survey will remain open for another week, and he encourages town meeting members to fill it out. The committee is looking for broad visions right now. The Comprehensive Plan will serve as a basis for decision making and direction over the next ten years.

(Greg Christiana, Town Moderator) Mr. Christiana says it's snack night, courtesy of the Arlington High School Girl's Tennis Team.

Article 3 - Reports of Committees

Town Meeting receives reports from the School Committee and Library Board of Trustees.

(Matt Miller, Precinct 11, Point of Order) Mr. Miller says he's observed three ways that the voting period can end: the clock, the green light, and the moderator. He asks if these can be synchronized, so there's a clearer end to the voting period.

Article 49 - Town Budgets

(Carl Wagner, Precinct 15, Point of order) Mr. Wagner asks if we should be taking up the budgets in the middle of debating another article.

(Greg Christiana, Town Moderator) Mr. Christiana says we've done this in the past. It's important to have all of the department heads available to answer budget questions.

(Jim Feeney, Town Manager) Mr. Feeney introduces the department heads that are joining us tonight.

(Liz Homan, School Superintendent) Ms. Homan says the school budget is guided by strategic goals, which include increasing secondary enrollment, ensuring competitive compensation, and maintaining school staff. For the first time in years, the Arlington School District has a full-time licensed librarian in every school. Arlington has made up for the school enrollment gap that we saw during the pandemic. Elementary enrollment is stabilized and decreasing. Secondary enrollment has increased from 85--90% and the state has determined that the school district is meeting or exceeding expectations. The school district is proposing a $103M budget for FY 2026. We have finally reached the town manager average for school salaries. Regarding federal funding, the schools received $2.3M, which was mostly used for special education and low-income programs.

(Greg Christiana) Mr. Christiana will read through the list of budgets. Town Meeting members can hold budgets they'd like to discuss.

• John Worden (Precinct 8) holds the Select Board budget
• Gordon Jamieson (Precinct 12) holds the IT department budget
• Chris Loreti (Precinct 7) holds the treasurers budget
• Chris Loreti holds the postage budget
• Vince Baudoin (Precinct 1) holds the parking budget
• Gordon Jamieson holds the planning department budget
• Kristin Anderson (Precinct 11) holds the public works budget
• Ezra Fischer (Precinct 4) holds the police budget
• Beth Melofchik (Precinct 9) holds the education budget
• Gordon Jamieson holds the retirement budget
• Gordon Jamieson holds the insurance budget
• Beth Ann Friedman (Precinct 15) holds the Recreation enterprise budget
• Beth Beneditk (Precinct 21) holds the Arlington Youth Counseling Center budget

We'll now proceed through each budget that was held.

Select Board

(John Worden) Mr. Worden says he was walking down Mass Ave and saw a crane pick up the spire from town hall and drop it onto the ground. He asks if it will be replaced.

(Jim Feeney, Town Manager) Mr. Feeney says that replacement is not in the FY 2026 budget.

(John Worden) Mr. Worden asks if the tower will be replaced.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says we've saved a number of pieces from the tower to use as the basis for replication and future construction. That will be part of a larger envelope project for town hall.

Information Technology

(Gordon Jamieson) Mr. Jamieson says the IT budget increased by 29% but the water and sewer offset only increased by 14.2%. He says we'll reduce the total amount of service available if we don't fully bill enterprise funds.

(Gary Goldsmith, Precinct 11) Mr. Goldsmith asks if the GIS system is under the IT budget.

(Patricia Sheppard, IT Director) Ms. Sheppard says it's shared between IT and the DPW.

(Gary Goldsmith) Mr. Goldsmith asks about upgrades to the GIS system.

(Patricia Sheppard) Ms. Sheppard says we've swapped out the back end with ESRI, but other parts of the system still have to be upgraded.

(Gary Goldsmith) Mr. Goldsmith asks if the upgrade will allow people to create individualized maps.

(Patricia Sheppard) Ms. Sheppard says that capability will be available.

(Gary Goldsmith) Mr. Goldsmith thinks it's a valuable service for being able to look at the town.

(Chris Loreti) Mr. Loreti says the personnel expenses went up 20% due to a new security position. He asks why that position is needed now.

(Patricia Sheppard) Ms. Sheppard says the position is for a Cybersecurity Manager. This would be a position to create cybersecurity policy and harden the town's IT systems against cyberattacks.

Treasurer-Collector

(Chris Loreti) Mr. Loreti says there were eight clerks in 2010 and seven clerks now. He asks how the use of online payments has affected the Treasurer's workload.

(Julie Wayman, Treasurer) Ms. Wayman says the town has been taking payments online. While this gives residents another option for paying bills, it hasn't reduced the workload in her department.

Postage

(Chris Loreti) Mr. Loreti asks if the postage budget includes mailing materials for town meeting.

(Julie Wayman) Ms. Wayman says that the postage covers as much of the town meeting materials as possible.

(Chris Loreti) Mr. Loreti says that town meeting members had to pick up packets from the Select Board's office. He'd like the town to commit to mailing materials out in 2026.

Parking

(Vince Baudoin) Mr. Baudoin asks about the duration of the parking meter contract.

(Julie Wayman) Ms. Wayman says the contract is year-to-year.

(Vince Baudoin) Mr. Baudoin says the budget shows $220k of fees in 2024, and half that amount in 2025. The budget for 2026 is $130k. Mr. Baudoin asks about the 2026 figure.

(Alex McGee, Deputy Town Director) Mr. McGee says that revenue was broken out into a different category.

(Vince Baudoin) Mr. Baudoin asks if there's been consideration to putting parking meters in other parts of town, like Arlington Heights.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says the Select Board's goals for 2026 include considering the expansion of the meter program.

(Vince Baudoin) Mr. Baudoin asks what the money from the Russel Common lot was used for.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says that's covered in the Parking Benefits District article, rather than the parking budget.

(Vince Baudoin) Mr. Baudoin says that Russel Common is a big parking lot. He thinks we could generate more value by building something there.

(Gordon Jamieson) Mr. Jamieson asks about the difference between the parking offset and the parking benefits district.

(Alex McGee) Mr. McGee says the offset is used to pay for half of three parking control officers.

(Ed Trembly, Precinct 19) Mr. Trembly says the meters used to have a button that gave 15 minutes of free parking, but he didn't see it the last time he used one. He asks if that feature was taken away.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says the feature is still there. He describes which buttons to push.

Planning and Community Development

(Gordon Jamieson) Mr. Jamieson asks if there's a school offset for the Sustainability Manager.

(Claire Ricker, Planning Director) Ms. Ricker says the Sustainability Manager works with the school facilities department, similarly to what she does on the town side.

Public Works

(Kristin Anderson) Ms. Anderson says she was BCCd on an email to the Select Board. The message asked her to ask DPW to have a forum on waste transition.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says he'll consider that.

(Steve Moore, Precinct 18) Mr. Moore applauds the decision for a new trash collector. Republic's service has been rather poor. He asks about the main issues with Republic, and whether the town took any steps to recoup money from them.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says the decision to find a new collector was primarily driven by price and performance.

(Ed Trembly) Mr. Trembly asks if there's any money in the budget to address traffic light timing. He says the red light cycle at Lockeland Ave is very long.

(Michael Rademacher, DPW Director) Mr. Rademacher says there is a budget for lights. Some signals can be coordinated, but others cannot.

(Ed Trembly) Mr. Trembly asks who configures the lights.

(Michael Rademacher) Mr. Rademacher says the configuration is done by DPW employees, or an outside contractor.

(Catherine Farrell, Precinct 5) Ms. Farrell says she was one of 3500 residents that got a notice about unknown material in her water line. She'd like more details about this.

(Michael Rademacher) Mr. Rademacher says the notices were sent out based on DPW's records, and there are some water lines the department has no records for. They'd like to get information about those service lines, and will hire a vendor for testing. He says the town has ten years to inspect or remove unknown lines.

(Gary Goldsmith) Mr. Goldsmith says that GIS is an important tool, and he'd like to know about the timetable for implementing the system upgrade. A useful GIS would allow people to look at areas where we've proposed rezoning. The adopt a tree program would be another application. Watering new trees is a challenge, and Mr. Goldsmith thinks it would be helpful to have new trees mapped so people know where they are. He asks if the town can create an adopt-a-tree map.

(Michael Rademacher) Mr. Rademacher says the GIS director is in the process of bringing assets into the new system. He's excited that we'll have the ability to expand our GIS capabilities over time. He says the GIS manager is often stretched by demands from various departments. They're looking to roll out a tree inventory map this summer.

(Beth Ann Friedman) Ms. Friedman has a question about removal of ice or snow. What happens if we go over or under budget?

(Christine Deshler, Finance Committee Chair) Ms. Deshler says that unspent money is returned to the general fund. If we go over, we'd try to find unused funds in other parts of the budget, or would draw from the reserve fund.

(Nancy Bloom, Precinct 18) Ms. Bloom asks why there was a 30% increase in personnel costs.

(Alex McGee) Mr. McGee says the number listed as the 2025 personnel cost is too low. The actual increase is 5.05%.

(Kristin Pennarun, Precinct 20) Ms. Pennarun has a question about sanitation. It's budgeted at $5.4M this year versus $4.6M for last year. She asks how automated collection will affect this.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says that keeping the existing collection system would have cost over $7M.

(Kristin Pennarun) Ms. Pennarun says she's optimistic about automation.

(Paul Schlichtman, Precinct 9) Mr. Schlichtman moves the question on the DPW budget.

Motion to end debate on the DPW budget fails.

(Gordon Jamieson) Mr. Jamieson says the recycling offset has been budgeted at $35k for years. He asks if that amount is sufficient.

(Alex McGee) Mr. McGee says that $35k generally fits within the balance of the fund.

(Gordon Jamieson) Mr. Jamieson says the Robbins Farm Park field isn't in great shape. He thinks that some fertilizer would help. He asks who will pay for the toters for the automated trash collection.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says we're planning to pay for the toters from a number of sources, including grants and the capital plan.

(Gordon Jamieson) Mr. Jamieson has a question about trash incineration. He asks if we're keeping our tonnage down.

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

(Gordon Jamieson) Mr. Jamieson notes that yard waste collection is increasing by $500k. He asks if Lexington doesn't like our yard waste.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says that Lexington hasn't liked our yard waste for years. Part of the difference is due to an accounting change. Yard waste is now a separate line item, and it goes to a facility in Woburn.

(Gordon Jamieson) Mr. Jamieson asks if anyone has analyzed the potential savings from a composting program, vs having to incinerate wet food waste.

(Michael Rademacher) Mr. Rademacher says we have looked at that. The savings from the compost program wouldn't be enough to offset current disposal costs.

It's 21:30, and we take a ten-minute break.

(Susan Stamps, Precinct 3) Ms. Stamps says the adopt-a-tree map is not operational yet, but 200 trees were just planted. She asks people to please water them. She's concerned that the automated trash collection system might damage newly-planted street trees.

(John Worden) Mr. Worden understands that each household will get new trash cans. He asks if the town is paying for them.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says the town is paying for them, and they're pricey. The new cans will cost over $1.5M.

(John Worden) Mr. Worden asks about yard waste.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says we are encouraging residents to use their old cans for yard waste, and "Yard Waste" stickers are available from the DPW. Leaf bags will continue to be acceptable.

(John Worden) Mr. Worden asks what will happen if people move away and leave all their stuff on the curb, things like chairs and furniture. He asks how that will be handled.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says that bulky burnables can be collected, but for a fee.

(John Worden) Mr. Worden says the used to get picked up by the town.

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

Motion to end debate on the DPW budget passes, 142--59--3.

Police Services

(Ezra Fischer) Mr. Fischer says the police spent $60k on Axon products in 2024. He asks what we bought.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says we purchased body-worn cameras, and services from the vendor.

(Ezra Fischer) Mr. Fischer says that the police department has lost some officers and the overtime budget remains the same. He asks if there are plans to reduce overtime.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says there's a three-month spike in overtime after new officers are hired, where officers put in overtime for field training.

(Ezra Fischer) Mr. Fischer says that other police departments have had issues with overtime abuse, where overtime essentially becomes a hidden salary. He asks about Arlington's policy regarding collaborations with federal agencies.

(Julie Flaherty, Police Chief) Ms. Flaherty says that Arlington's Police do not enforce federal immigration policy. We are a local police department.

(Ezra Fischer) Mr. Fischer has a question about motor vehicle stops in 2024. He says that black people are over-represented in Arlington traffic stops and arrests. He asks if the department is taking any steps to rectify this.

(Julie Flaherty) Ms. Flaherty disagrees. She says the department doesn't disproportionately stop people of color.

(Ezra Fischer) Mr. Fischer asks what APD's accreditation stipend is used for.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says that stipend is given to officers who run the accreditation programs.

(Ezra Fischer) Mr. Fischer says he'd love to to have votes on specific budgets in future years.

(Judith Garber, Precinct 4) Ms. Garber notes that one of the expense lines is annotated with two asterisks. She asks what they're referring to, and why was there a 13% increase.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says he can't explain what the asterisks are for. He says the expenditure change was for day programs, and funding to support body-worn cameras.

(Judith Garber) Ms. Garber asks what the Communications Supervisor does.

(Julie Flaherty) Ms. Flaherty says they supervise the 911 dispatch.

(Elizabeth Dray, Precinct 10) Ms. Dray asks about the costs and policies associated with body worn cameras, and if there's been any collective bargaining impact.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says there's an $89k annual fee associated with the cameras.

(Elizabeth Dray) Ms. Dray asks if officers are wearing them yet.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says no. The matter is still under arbitration.

(Elizabeth Dray) Ms. Dray says the police department budgeted $43k for body worn cameras in 2021. She asked where that money went.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says those funds were used to purchase the cameras.

(Julie Flaherty) Ms. Flaherty says they purchased the hardware in 2023. There are also annual costs for storage and licensing the technology.

(Elizabeth Dray) Ms. Dray asks if there's a policy for body worn cameras.

(Julie Flaherty) Ms. Flaherty says that's still the subject of arbitration.

(Elizabeth Dray) Ms. Dray says the department was subject to a civil rights settlement in 2024, which produced a list of things for the town to do. She asks what the costs will be, and if they're covered in the budget.

(Julie Flaherty) Ms. Flaherty says the police department is committed to meeting those requirements. All officers have attended 16 hours of de-escallation training. They've also hired a consultant to deliver implicit bias training.

(Nancy Bloom) Ms. Bloom has a question about the two asterisks. She asks if there should be an amendment to delete them.

(Christine Deshler) Ms. Deshler says it's a typo, and should be disregarded.

(Robin Bergman, Precinct 12) Ms. Bergman asks about the department's policy on civil asset forfeiture.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says the department does not do civil asset forfeiture, but does receive funds that come from federal civil asset forfeitures.

Education

(Beth Melofchik) Ms. Melofchik says she used to be an administrator for foreign student visa programs. She was surprised to see that listed as a revenue stream in the school budget. She sees there are 17 year-round and 22 semester exchange students. She asks if we make money from that program.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan says the school department has a revolving fund for F-student visas. We don't make money, but we do collect fees based on historic rates. We charge less than the per-pupil rate set by the state, and we only take students when we have space.

(Stephanie Ford-Weems, Precinct 8) Ms. Ford-Weems has a question about out-of-district transport. She asks if that reflects all out-of-district placements.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan says that line is only tuition, and other expenses are covered by a different line item. Page 18 shows the projected in crease for FY 2026.

(Stephanie Ford-Weems) Ms. Weems asks about the total dollar amount.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan says that's shown on page 84. $5.8M is the total budgeted amount for out-of-district placements.

(Beth Ann Friedman) Ms. Friedman asks about the increase of 27.1 full time employees shown on the last page of the school budget report. She asks if that can be broken down.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan says the best place to look is on pages 18--21, which shows changes between last year and this year. The new positions include reading specialists, individual education programs, and social services. Staffing reductions are listed on page 18.

(Michele Durocher, Precinct 19) Ms. Durocher has a question about contingency planning. She asks what risks the schools are planning for.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan says they have put measures in place. A portion of the last budget override has been allocated to operational costs, and there's also a special education reserve fund.

(Michele Durocher) Ms. Durocher asks if we're advocating for money from the millionaires tax.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan says we've done that for Boston students in the METCO program. We're working a lot with our state legislators.

(Steve Moore, Precinct 18) Mr. Moore offers compliments on the success of the schools. He asks if the schools need individual projects to ask for money from the millionaires tax, and whether the state has a prioritization list.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan says she's gotten outreach from our legislators. The town allocation formula works to Arlington's advantage.

(Gordon Jamieson) Mr. Jamieson thanks the school department for getting the Brackett Playground done. He's glad to see Governor Romney's 9C cuts reversed. He asks about the capacity of the Thompson School.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan says the Thompson School has a capacity of around 500 students. The district has a buffer zone policy, and uses buffer zones to even out elementary allocation.

(Gordon Jamieson) Mr. Jamieson compliments the schools on the increase in secondary enrollment. We've made our secondary schools places where students want to go.

(missed a bit here)

(Austin Brown, Precinct 6) Mr. Brown has a question about the costs associated with replacing academic PCs.

(Greg Christiana) Mr. Christiana says that's part of the Capital budget, which is a different warrant article.

(Mark Kaepplein) Mr. Kaepplein asks why the budget for gifted students is zero.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan says the schools provide services to those students in the classroom, via intervention.

(Mark Kaepplein) Mr. Kaepplein asks about opportunities for higher performing students.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan says they've revised curriculum in a number of subjects for that group.

(Mark Kaepplein) Mr. Kaepplein thinks that higher-performing students aren't getting sufficient opportunities.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan disagrees.

(Mark Kaepplein) Mr. Kaepplein asks how much money the school has saved through electrification efforts.

(Frank Gorsky, School department) Mr. Gorsky says there's additional funding in the budget for electrification, but we may not realize a savings right away.

(Mark Kaepplein) Mr. Kaepplein asks about solar panels.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan says there are some on the high school, with more on the way.

(Mark Kaepplein) Mr. Kaepplein asks how much money the solar panels are saving.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says he doesn't have that number immediately available.

(Mark Kaepplein) Mr. Kaepplein asks if global warming has decreased in Arlington.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan says a portion of the school's capital budget is for HVAC renovation. Not all buildings have air conditioning.

(Carmine Granucci, Precinct 21) Mr. Granucci asks why the school budget subsidizes a portion of the school department.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan says that IT facilities are shared between the school and town.

Retirement

(Gordon Jamieson) Mr. Jamieson notes that contributory pension costs are up 17% but water and sewer enterprise charges are only up 8%. That means we are indirectly subsidizing these funds.

Insurance

(Gordon Jamieson) Mr. Jamieson says the water and sewer enterprise offset decreased while the budget's top line is up 29%. He thinks this should be looked at.

Recreation Enterprise Fund

(Beth Ann Friedman) Ms. Friedman asks what the Kiddie Camp program is.

(Natasha Waden, Recreation Director) Ms. Waden says it consists of two programs for two different age groups. One is an after school program and the other is a pre-school program.

Arlington Youth Counseling Center Enterprise Fund

(Beth Benedikt) Ms. Benedikt asks if there have been cuts to mental health and case management positions.

(Colleen Legere, Health and Human Services director) Ms. Legere says that some of those positions are being funded by grants and other accounts, and were moved to line items in the Health and Human Services budget.

(Beth Benedikt) Ms. Benedikt asks why this was changed.

(Colleen Leger) Ms. Leger says the enterprise fund is for youth counseling, but these positions serve all age groups.

Article passes, 201--0--3.

Article 50 - Capital Budget

(Carl Wagner, Precinct 15, Point of Order) Mr. Wagner asks if there will be a discussion on Appendix E. He says it will cause a deficit in future years.

(Note: Appendix E in the Finance Committee report provided details on a cybercrime incident that the town experienced. We were spear phished.)

(Greg Christiana, Town Moderator) Mr. Christiana says that anything not associated with a warrant article is out of scope for town meeting discussion.

(Christopher Moore, Capital Planning Committee Chair) Mr. Moore says that the capital budget involves people and departments across town. It includes things we're buying and debt service. The "expenses for stuff" portion is $14.5M this year, which will come from cash, grants, and other sources. $6.6M (45%) will go to public works, and $5.5M (38%) will go to the schools and school IT. The other allocations are relatively small.

$5.6M of the capital budget will be paid for in bonds, and we'll pay $20.1M in debt service in 2026. This includes both exempt and non-exempt debt. Arlington's policy is for the capital budget to be 5% of the operating budget.

(Adam Auster, Precinct 16) Mr. Auster says the report mentions $200k for mobility improvements, like pedestrian beacons and sidewalks. He asks where those improvements will be made.

(Jim Feeney, Town Manager) Mr. Feeney says there's design work being done at the intersection of Mass Ave and Dundee Road, near Trader Joe's. That's potentially a place for a pedestrian beacon. For sidewalks, we're considering improvements on the north side of Mass Ave in Arlington Center, and a crossing redesign at Library Way.

(Adam Auster) Mr. Auster asks if that's the whole $200k.

(Jim Feeney) Mr. Feeney says the total cost for these projects will likely exceed $200k.

(Adam Auster) Mr. Auster says there's an absence of capital funds for the Ottoson Middle School. He asks how that was decided.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan says we've submitted a statement of intent to the Massachusetts School Building Association for the replacement of the Ottoson Middle School. Examining the maintenance needs of the building clarified the need for replacement.

(Adam Auster) Mr. Auster thinks that Town Meeting should have some sort of role in the Ottoson reconstruction, and he'd be interested in working on that.

(Liz Homan) Ms. Homan says that a statement of interest is just the beginning of the process.

It's 23:00 and town meeting adjourns until Monday.