2016 Town Meeting - Night Five

Tonight was all about Minuteman.  It's been on the schedule for over a week, but we only got the handouts this afternoon.  It would have been better to have more time to review them, but given how slowly the night went, there was plenty of time.

We started moving ahead to Article 43, the annual appropriation for Minuteman.  The amount for this year is $3,649,349, 9% less than last year.  After some active discussion, we passed the appropriation overwhelmingly, 195-2.

At this point, we reopened the special town meeting so we could discuss article 6, the bond authorization for Minuteman school construction.  This is a very contentious issue, because it involves a lot of money.  Immediately after the presentation of the recommended vote in favor by the Financial Committee, there was a presentation of a substitute motion against the bond authorization.  The discussion was very interesting.  The pro side had several very articulate speakers focusing on the value of the education for the students.  The per-pupil cost of building a new vocational school is high, but it is necessary for the proper education of those students.  If the bond authorization fails, the school will still need to be renovated, but it will be more inconvenient for the students, and we will have to foot the whole bill (or our share of the full bill).

The arguments against the authorization focused on the high cost and a sense that we need more time.  After seven years, I think we've seen all the possibilities and reviewed all the options.  Just before 11:00, we voted to terminate the debate, we voted down the substitute motion, and we approved the recommended vote in favor of the bond authorization 165-31.

After Belmont voted down the bond authorization last week, there is a lot of confusion about where we go from here.  The Minuteman superintendent has a meeting with the MSBA board tomorrow to try and figure that out.  The hope is that it is still possible to get state funds, but that might be difficult.  I think it would be a real shame to have missed out on state funding because the member communities couldn't reach an agreement in seven years.

We adjourned while still in the special town meeting, so we will open Wednesday in the special, debating article 3 about authorizing money to expand school capacity in Arlington.  Once that is over, we'll dissolve the special town meeting and reopen the regular town meeting.  At that point, I intend to make a motion for reconsideration of article 29.  I spoke with many members this evening who were very glad to receive the materials and hear that there would be a motion.  I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out.