The Moderator started the night reviewing the "48 Hour Rule." All amendments must be submitted 48 hours (2 business days) before the meeting where the article is discussed. He also declared that all amendments and substitute motions would need to be submitted ahead. We were told that if we are doing "something interesting" with Article 12, it must be submitted in writing before 8:00pm Thursday. TMM Worden raised a Point of Order. What happened to the weekend? Forty-eight hours is Saturday night. The Moderator clarified that it was business days only. After some back-and-forth, TMM Worden said, "your rule doesn’t make it right." The Moderator quipped back, "it makes it the rule."
TMM Weinstein raised a Point of Order. He requested that the Moderator not start the vote clock until after he is done explaining the vote. There were several times last session where the vote clock ended before the vote was fully explained. The Moderator agreed, and would try to do better.
Mr. Helmuth, Chair of the Select Board moved to adjourn the Annual Town Meeting until immediately after the conclusion of the Special Town Meeting, or Monday, whichever came first. The motion was seconded and passed on a voice vote.
TMM Wagner raised a Point of Order that we didn't sing. Did we forget to play the national anthem? The Moderator reiterated his statement from opening night that he wasn't going to have it sung every night. TMM Wagner pushed his point, and the Moderator ruled him out of order.
The Moderator brought the Special Town Meeting to order. Mr. Helmuth motioned who can be in the enclosure during the meeting. It was seconded and passed on a voice vote.
The Moderator asked the Town Clerk whether the meeting had been properly called, and Ms. Brazile agreed that it was. Mr. Helmuth moved that if we didn't finish, we would continue on Monday. That was seconded and approved on a voice vote. He then called for announcements and resolutions.
TMM Foskett asked to have a resident of the town make an announcement. Nancy Feeney announced a fundraiser for Metastatic Breast Cancer research and prevention. The foundation is named after a friend of hers who passed away from the disease. The event will be May 14. There is a "hot pink" flyer in the back of the hall with more information.
TMM Helmuth indicated the Select Board report to the Special Town Meeting was on the chairs. He also announced that applications to join the Arlington Civilian Police Advisory Panel were available on the town website. Applications must be received by May 31.
TMM Wiener announced the Housing Corporation of Arlington (HCA) Walk for Affordable Housing would be on May 21. TMM Ford-Weems thanked the Moderator for the opportunity to address the meeting. She asked "what steps can you take to support affordable housing?" Support the HCA. There are two services provided by the HCA: working with residents who could lose their housing and build more affordable housing. She encouraged everyone to come to the walk and meet the HCA staff, tenants, and board members. A link to the walk page is at their website.
TMM Pooler announced that after discussion with Chief Flaherty, they have agreed that the town won’t purchase Bolo Wraps. They will refer the task of finding an appropriate deescalation strategy to the police advisory panel.
TMM Ruderman, the Minuteman School Committee representative for Arlington announced that the Minuteman superintendent would be here on Monday for the presentation on Article 44. The presentation is available on the Annotated Warrant.
There being no other announcements or resolutions, Article 1 was before the meeting. Mr. Helmuth submitted the Select Board report and asked that it be accepted. This was seconded and approved on a voice vote. TMM Deshler, Chair of the Finance Committee moved that the recommended votes in the report be before the meeting. This was seconded and approved on a voice vote. TMM Deshler moved that Article 1 be tabled. This was seconded and approved on a voice vote.
Article 2 was introduced by Mr. Helmuth who recommended positive action to create a hybrid meeting study committee for Town Meeting. TMM Rosenthal has a Point of Order requesting a test vote. The Moderator apologized for not doing it sooner. The test question was whether there were more voting precincts in Arlington or keys on a stenographic typewriter. The vote was 99-87 in favor of the number of precincts, but that was incorrect. The keyboard has 22 keys. TMM Gruber from the Town Meeting Procedures Committee said the article proposed forming a committee to study holding future Town Meetings in a hybrid format. The final report would include a process for implementation and support. She encouraged a positive vote. TMM Sullivan passed. TMM Hamlin "is … interested" in this committee. He sets up hybrid meetings for work. He noted this will involve a lot of effort. The committee will need to consider costs and procedures. TMM Radoccia passed. TMM Leone, the former town moderator urged a vote against the proposal. We all saw how Town Meeting was on Zoom. Going back will be a disaster. It will be disrespectful to those who are not in person. It takes 8-10 staff to run an online town meeting. They last much longer. Town Meeting lost many seasoned members who didn’t want to do it again online. It is so much better in person. Just because we can consider hybrid doesn’t mean we should. It will have different classes of participants. TMM Pretzer is in favor of the article. The core of the issue is democracy. We need to remove barriers to participation. If it is easier to run, there will be more contested elections. There should be no barriers leading to inequality because of how one needs to participate. This would allow other people to run and participate in town meeting, maximizing opportunities to better represent the town. Study committee will do a good job weighing options.
TMM Rudick (5) jogged up to the podium. He is a parent of three kids under 5. He was late tonight, because his kids go to bed at 8:00. The study will be good. There are upsides to being in person. Yelling "SCOPE" at a screen doesn’t work. (The Moderator concurred, "No. it doesn’t.") TMM Newton moved to terminate debate. This was seconded and after an inconclusive voice vote, approved 172-46. TMM Badik raised a Point of Order about the vote language. After a little back-and-forth with the Moderator, all was OK. The Moderator reviewed the main motion and the article passed 183-33.
Article 3 was introduced by Mr. Pooler. He was stopped, and the article was introduced by Ms. Mahon from the Select Board. Mr. Helmuth was recused. It is important that this article regarding hiring procedures for the police department be heard at town meeting. Mr. Pooler requested 10 minutes for the presentation. TMM Rosenthal asked how we know when to add our names to the speaker queue if you don’t tell us the queue is open. The Moderator apologized, and reset the queue. The motion was seconded and approved on a voice vote. The article will authorize a home rule petition allowing the town to hire police officers outside of Civil Service. Civil Service is not working for town now. This petition, if approved, would allow the department to accept candidates from outside of Civil Service. There would be no effect other departments. Civil Service has written and physical exams. Interviews are limited in number, and the department must hire highest scoring qualified candidate. It is a lengthy process to hire the number 2 candidate instead. This change will allow the town to administer its own exam and/or assessment and a physical exam. There would be no limit on the number of interviews, and the police department could hire anyone who was interviewed. There would be no preference for Arlington residents, nor would there be a preference for veterans. After they are hired, the new employees would retain the protections afforded under Civil Service. Chief Flaherty spoke to the benefits of the article. There has been a reduction in the number of residents taking the Civil Service exam. The town will be able to pursue a much wider pool of candidates without it. The town could administer its own test multiple times a year. The Civil Service bypass process to exclude a candidate would no longer be needed. This change would make it much easier to address diversity issues. It would allow the town to direct its own recruitment. We are trying to fix a problem, and this article will fix it. Civil Service was created a century ago to get rid of the old patronage system. It doesn’t work well today and the administration of the program isn’t properly funded at state level. Every year, more communities are leaving Civil Service. While Arlington is still in discussions with its unions, we are proposing a half step. The Chief requested our support.
The Moderator decided to bounce around the speaker list. TMM Harrelson works with an organization that does non-civil service exams. What types of exams will the Town use, and regarding diversity, how will the Town address protected classes. Chief Flaherty said the department would be conducting research on testing and set policy similar to other communities. The department would likely hire a consultant. The goal is to be able to choose candidates from wider pool with more diversity. TMM Ryan-Vollmar asked how many women are on the Arlington police force. Chief Flaherty responded that 8 of 61 officers are women. When asked how many are colored, she responded 5. TMM Ryan-Lollmar asked the Chief, based on her experience, how important is it to mirror the diversity of community in the force. Chief Flaherty responded that it builds trust with the community and is very important. This article will further that goal by opening up positions to a larger pool of applicants. She noted that several other towns are passing similar bills. When asked how this would effect existing officers, the Chief said it would not. It would offer residents a more diverse force in the future.
TMM Kaepplein said he had looked at the civil service website, and noted that there are many people waiting to be hired. There should be no issue in finding candidates. He started asking about the Fire Department, but was stopped by the Moderator forgoing out of scope. TMM Kaepplein asked what sort of police interactions don’t match demographically, where is the gap between minority residents and police. Chief Flaherty noted that for minorities, only only 5 people on the force look like their community. TMM Kaepplein asked what gaps needed to be filled. The Chief noted there was nothing specific. When TMM Kaepplein asked what the need was, the Moderator asked about the granularity of the match between town and police. The Chief said Arlington is more diverse than its police. TMM Kaepplein thought the response was too vague. Chief Flaherty replied that there are currently 16 residents on the Civil Service list. When the department hires people from outside of town, they very often leave as soon as a position opens up in their town. The department tries to stay with Arlington candidates in order to retain them. TMM Kaepplein again brought up the fire department and was again stopped for being outside the scope of the article. TMM Prokosch moved to terminate debate. The Moderator decided that the voice vote failed, but after five members rose to request a count, the vote by handset showed it passed 151-59. Debate was terminated. (The Moderator noted that the "No’s are just louder.") After fully explaining the vote, the Moderator opened voting. Th main motion passed 199-17.
TMM Deshler moved to take Article 1 from table. That was seconded and passed on a voice vote. She then moved to dissolve the special town meeting. That was seconded and passed on a voice vote. We were back to the regular meeting.
TMM Deshler moved that articles 9 and articles 24-36 be taken from the table. That was seconded and passed on a voice vote.
Article 9 had been tabled by the Meeting to allow an amendment to the substitute motion be filed by TMM Badik. Mr. Helmuth said that earlier this week, the Select Board met and voted to endorse the substitute motion which would allow a permanent record to be created, but allow the Town Clerk to have options for how to do that. He said that was the intent of the Board, but the vote language didn’t reflect that. The Badik amendment restores original language, removes the term “stenographic”, and added “of proceedings“. That was seconded and passed on a voice vote. TMM Baudoin understands term “complete stenographic record”, but what does “complete record” actually mean. Doug Heim, Town Counsel responded that the current bylaw requires a licensed stenographer be present, prepare a draft copy, and after reviewing comments, issue a final copy. The proposed amendment would allow for automatic transcription or some other technology to be employed. TMM Greenspon passed.
TMM Rosenthal asked what the town loses if the motion passes. We would not only lose the stenographer, but the only requirement for a record of town meeting. Creating a record shouldn't be left to the goodwill of volunteers. We need a record of our deliberations. Without that, there could incorrect interpretations of what has been passed. The proposed cost savings are not enough to matter. The stenographer has only been absent three times in three years. There are problems with a paper record, but computers have issues too. Digital records don’t last. Data storage devices and file formats change all the time. Companies protect their formats against soft ware changes. The Moderator interrupted to ask the speaker to move past his long windup, and get to the point. TMM Rosenthal continued that big companies can go under too. He proposed requiring a method for the Clerk to incorporate was ruled out of scope. The substitute motion doesn’t call for digital storage, just a method for creating a record. TMM Foskett raised a Point of Order, asking whether this should be considered in scope. The Moderator said, " I disagree." TMM Rosenthal urged a vote against the main motion; we should wait until this can be discussed by technologists. TMM Moore (C) felt tangled up here. Whether the record is "stenographic" or "complete", doesn’t address how the Clerk performs her duties. A stenographic record might be stored digitally. Rats might be eating paper copies. If we want to address how the Clerk does her job, draft an article for next year. Vote yes on this article. TMM Tosti moved to terminate. That was seconded and passed on a voice vote. The substitute motion passed 204-12, and the main motion as substituted passed 184-40. There was a question about why the speaker queue was filling right before the vote, but it was just people voting before voting was opened. There was a delay because the support staff were diligently waiting on the Moderator to open voting.
Article 24 was introduced by Mr. Helmuth. It is the annual endorsement of federal funding through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Mr. Pooler referred the Meeting to the report. This year, the amount of money received will be $1.06M. Applications for funding were reviewed, ranked, and are presented as a recommendation. There are four categories: housing, public facilities and improvements, public services, and administration. This supports many positions and initiatives within the Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD). He requested endorsement of the endorsement. TMM Elliott urged support of the article. She called attention to the fact that nearly one-third of the funds were going to repair the Houser Building, which is under the authority of the Arlington Housing Authority (AHA). These are important upgrades, but they are supposed to be funded by the State. The State is not meeting its obligations to our low income residents. The state budget is set by Governor, the level funding is proposed this year, which is about half of what would be adequate funding. She urged support for the article, but the town could be doing more if the Commonwealth made good on its obligations. Please call you representatives and senators. TMM Moore (C) passed. TMM Jalkut moved to terminate debate. That was seconded and passed on a voice vote. The endorsement passed 218-0. We were released for a ten minute break.
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After break, Article 25 was introduced by Mr. Helmuth. He in turn introduced Alex Magee, our new Deputy Town Manager. Mr. Magee explained that revolving funds are accounts to support operations and require annual re-authorization. They are designed to accept fees and dispense them. He would be happy to take questions. TMM Loreti noted that the white goods recycling account has a balance of $8K. Why is it taking in so much more than it is expending? Mr. Pooler noted the fees are set to meet differing policies under state law. TMM Loreti said that fees are supposed to match costs. Increasing the costs pushes recycling to other trash streams. We want to make sure white goods are processed properly. The high cost of disposal led him to fix a broken television rather than discarding it. TMM Benson passed. TMM Kaepplein was concerned about cleaning fees for un-rented spaces. Mr. Pooler asked if he could clarify his question. TMM Kaepplein noted that rental spaces have associated cleaning fees. Are those long-term contracted? They should apply whether a facility is rented or not. Mr. Pooler was not sure which revolving fund was in question. The Town does rent spaces and cleaners are paid on overtime. TMM Kaepplein said during COVID, there should not be cleaning fees. Mr. Pooler was interrupted by the Moderator because this was outside the scope of revolving funds. TMM Foskett asked how the ambulance fund was doing against prior years? Mr. Magee said that there was a change in how life support services are funded, and the town now collects more revenues from basic life services, so revenues for ambulance services are lower. To a question about the 53g fund, Town Counsel explained that this line item was redundant. There was a change in how the town administers Section 53g funds. Historically, such funds went into a revolving fund. They do not need to be handled that way, so the fund was closed. TMM Schlichtman moved to terminate debate. That was seconded and passed on a voice vote. The main motion passed 207-1.
This brought us up to the Zoning Articles. Article 26 was introduced by Rachel Zsembery, Chair of the Arlington Redevelopment Board (ARB). It addressed a deficiency in the Industrial District Development Standards added by a 2021 article. That article allowed more building height in exchange for for higher stormwater management standards, which was vague and ambiguous. The ARB worked with the Town Engineer and Conservation Agent to set actual standards. This article provides clarity without changing the intended effect. TMM Drey passed. TMM Schwartz did not respond. There were no other speakers, so we moved straight to the vote, which passed 203-3.
Article 27 was introduced by Ms. Zsembery. This was brought forward to address compliance differences between two sections of the Zoning Bylaw. The solar standards and industrial district standards are not aligned. This article aligns those sections without changing the intent. TMM Miller passed. TMM Ferola passed. There were no other speakers, so we moved straight to the vote, which passed 207-2.
Article 28 was introduced by Ms. Zsembery. At the 2020 Annual Town Meeting, there was an article which required the Building Inspector to hold off issuing a building permit until the applicant had complied with a town bylaw, the Good Neighbor agreement. At the time, the ARB had recommended no action, as this would put a local bylaw ahead of a state law. Town meeting passed a substitute motion to include the requirement anyway. The Attorney General ruled that the local bylaw is unenforceable. The ARB now seeks to remove that unenforceable provision. (I admired the restraint to not just say "We told you so.") TMM Gruber passed. TMM DiTullio passed. There were no other speakers, so we moved straight to the vote, which passed 203-1.
Article 29 was introduced by Ms. Zsembery. This article was prepared by a town resident, and would change the required minimum parking count for the Downtown Business district. TMM Baudoin introduced James Flemming, a town resident, to present his article. The town zoning bylaw requires a minimum amount of parking based on use and floor area. This article would remove the current parking minimum in Arlington Center, which is the Downtown Business (B5) district. The current rule requires almost equal area between interior space and parking area in order to comply. Most businesses don’t have any parking now. Meters help lower demand for parking. How is it possible they don't have parking now? The parking requirement can be reduced by Environmental Design Review (EDR) a special permit process administered by the ARB. Under this article, anyone seeking to develop space in the B5 district could do so without EDR for parking. This will be more efficient. TMM Kenney passed. TMM Rudick noted he has commercial real estate experience. A big part of borrowing money for a development project is a parking study to determine what is economically possible. No lender is going to endorse a project that has too little parking to succeed. Don't be worried about there being too little parking. TMM Granucci moved to terminate debate. That was seconded and the Moderator declared it on a voice vote. Five members rose, so we moved to voting by handset. That vote failed 125-80, so debate continued.
TMM Greenspon rose in support. He worked in Somerville in Union Square. Banks know how much parking is needed. A project won’t get financing if the parking isn’t available. He walks to the center all the time and knows all the vacant storefronts. Anything we can do to reduce that number is helpful. TMM Gibson passed. TMM Trembly noted that the proponent included municipal parking lots in their reasoning for not needing additional parking. He wanted to know how many of those spaces are currently leased and not available. Mr. Pooler agreed that some of the spaces are leased via the Select Board. TMM Trembly asked if he know how many spaces were leased. Mr. Pooler did not know, but he thought they were mostly adjacent to Arlington Catholic, so just a fraction of the total spaces. There could be some in the Railroad Lot, but he did not know. TMMs Heigham, Tosti, and Thornton all passed. TMM Preston said banks shouldn’t make these decisions for us. Senior residents shop in the Center, but don’t ride bicycles there. They need parking near stores. This is really a social policy. TMM Pretzer rose in support. It is not a big change. There is no parking now, and no one is likely to create new parking. Shared parking is more efficient and supports local businesses by removing barriers to development. TMM Hamlin moved to terminate debate. That was seconded and declared terminated on a voice vote. Five members rose to request a handset vote. The Moderator reminded us to "vote 1 for yes, 2 for no, and 3 for chaos." The motion to terminate debate passed 167-44. The vote on the main motion passed 177-29.
Article 30 was introduced by Ms. Zsembery. This article would remove the Usable Open Space requirement for single- and two-family dwellings. This is proposed, because the proponent and ARB believe there are sufficient overlapping requirements to limit development. TMM Baudoin introduced James Flemming, a resident of the town to introduce his article. Mr. Fleming noted this would be a long presentation, so we should settle in. (The Moderator admonished us, "don’t get too comfortable.") Usable Open Space is land area set aside for the enjoyable use of yard space. Removing the requirement for Usable Open Space allows residents to decide how to use their land. They could build an addition or add parking areas. TMM Evans noted that the current bylaw requires 30% of the Gross Floor Area (GFA) of the house be set aside as Usable Open Space. No opinion has been submitted by the ZBA. This regulation is guardrail against over-development. Other towns have much larger yards. This just requires an applicant to file for a special permit. Rather than eliminate the requirement, we could make it a percentage of the lot area, but that is not in scope for this article. We should make it better to conform to current practice. TMM Garber was concerned about a property in her district where someone is requesting to locate a parking lot in their back yard. Does current bylaw really act as sufficient guardrail? Mike Ciampa, the Inspector of Buildings noted that the bylaw only allows a 20’ maximum width for a driveway. If a permit is requesting to increase the impervious area by 350 square feet or more, they require Engineering Division stormwater review. They still could not pave their rear yard. TMM Anderson thought the proposed article could incentivize the conversion of business uses on small lots to two-unit luxury residential condos. She presented a list of possibly subject properties. Businesses exist because we make space for them. Arlington needs more businesses. She encouraged a vote against the article. TMM Weinstein passed.
TMM Kepka introduced Tanya Hewes, a resident of the town. She lives down the street from where a developer proposes to pave the rear yard. They are waiting to see what Town Meeting does to decide if they will continue to try and pave rear yard. If this passes, residents could loose their right to comment on projects like this. Many lots could be subject to this. There would be no green space, just parking lots. Sufficient parking exists in existing driveways. The current bylaw doesn't impact too many improvements. Don’t eliminate the requirement. This should continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis. Mr. Ciampa is very familiar with the property. The applicant is seeking a variance for open space open space and a special permit for exceeding the 20 foot maximum driveway width. TMM Litowski noted that we all value the idea of open space. However, Usable Open Space doesn’t appear to do that. Someone could convert their attic to living space, and now they are nonconforming. This just adds expense to an already expensive process. It adds complications and stress. She urged a vote against. TMM Susse spoke to the unfairness of the existing bylaw. It matters whether you have it or not. Does this hurt small businesses on Broadway? TMM Benson, a member of the ARB noted that the proposal only applies to single and two family districts. TMM Evans asked for a clarification that this applies to single- and two-family use, not district. [Ms. Zsembery confirmed that Usable Open Space relates to the single- and two-family used, which can occur in residential and business districts.] TMM Holman rose to speak in opposition. He had a few comments. We are referring to what homeowners want to do, but realistically, this is about what developers want to do. In his presentation, Mr. Flemming had noted that adding space can make it nonconforming. It is a limitation on how much you can add. (The Moderator warned against reading into the intentions of others.) TMM Holman was just addressing points raised by proponent. TMM Wagner noted that we are 250 people making a radical change affecting 44K people. This will impact so many residents. We should address problems. Someone can go get a variance. We should remember that the Master Plan talks about proper size of building on a lot. Members of the Zoning Boar of Appeals (ZBA) said this is a bad idea. TMM Klein, Chair of the ZBA told the Meeting that the applicant had appeared before the Board to discuss his proposal. This was done at the recommendation of the ARB to solicit additional feedback on the proposal. The Board discussed this, and individual members had individual opinions, but the Board took no formal position on this article. TMM Baron passed. There was a motion to adjourn, which was seconded. There were no notices of reconsideration. We adjourned on a voice vote.
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