This story has been updated to reflect that “Sewer Superintendent” is the accurate title for that position. 

The overarching theme when the Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, March 9, was Town Meeting business. 

With a Special Town Meeting scheduled for April 10 and the annual Spring Town Meeting scheduled for April 26, the Selectmen had plenty to consider — and that was even before the board voted to call another Special Town Meeting within the Special Town Meeting on April 10. 

As of March 9, interested voters should plan to attend Town Meetings on:

•  April 10 for a Special Town Meeting (and another Special Town Meeting within it) to vote on the proposed Hospitality District and a possible lease of Westfield, where the Wareham Tigers hope to establish fields.

• April 26 for the Annual Spring Town Meeting (and a Special Town Meeting within it) to vote on the budget, routine town business and a host of items including the name of the new elementary school.

Spring Town Meeting: April 26

On March 9, the board voted to hold a Special Town Meeting within the Spring Town Meeting, as is common practice. 

Selectmen Peter Teitelbaum noted that although the Spring Town Meeting and the Special Town Meeting within it are currently scheduled in the evening on Monday, April 26, that is likely to change. 

“There is a greater than 90 percent likelihood that this meeting will be moved from the High School auditorium, where we typically have them, to an outside location,” he said. “And [it’s] also likely to be held on a Saturday as well.”

The board also voted to recommend the approval of many articles on the Annual Spring Town Meeting warrant. Voters can see the warrant for the April 26 Spring Town Meeting on the town website: https://www.wareham.ma.us/sites/g/files/vyhlif5146/f/pages/2021_annual_spring_town_meeting_warrant.pdf

The board voted to recommend the approval of an article that would amend the legal definitions of duplexes and other multifamily dwellings and another article that would allow for the development of more restaurant drive-thrus.

Selectmen recommended the approval of a zoning change that would allow Smithers Lab to test up to eight teaspoons of marijuana products a day for metals or chemicals. The current zoning does not allow for this due to the lab’s proximity to the Decas Elementary School.

Voters will be asked to approve a new Wareham Village zoning district meant to promote development on Main Street and Merchants Way. The zoning proposal was created by the Redevelopment Authority and informed by consultants, and the Board of Selectmen voted to recommend its approval.

The rezoning is meant to foster redevelopment of the village while preserving its character and encouraging small business uses through mixed-use zoning. Often, mixed-use zoning includes retail or restaurants on the ground floor with offices and apartments above.

Taller buildings would be allowed, and developers might be able to use the air rights over Merchants Way to create buildings with space for parking underneath.

Voters will be asked to endorse the town’s Master Plan, developed in 2019 and 2020. The Master Plan is a document that addresses the town’s goals for land use, housing, climate change, economic development, services and facilities, transportation, open space and recreation and natural and cultural resources. 

Having a master plan in place means town officials can work from a shared vision for the community and makes the town eligible for certain state grants. The board voted to recommend its endorsement.

The Selectmen voted to recommend the approval of the appropriation of $830,000 in Community Preservation Act funds as part of a grant for Pennrose, the developer behind a proposed housing development at Littleton Drive that will include some affordable units. 

Voters will also be asked to approve two sets of changes to the Town Charter, which is a legal document that outlines the structure of Wareham’s government and delineates the powers and duties of various committees and officials.

The first article includes changes to the grammar and structure of the charter, all of which are intended to make the charter easier to read and understand.

The second article includes all of the more substantive changes, including dissolving the Board of Road Commissioners, making the Town Clerk an appointed position and making the Sewer Superintendent a position appointed by the Town Administrator rather than by the Board of Sewer Commissioners.

Although each article encompasses many changes, Town Meeting voters will have the chance to pull out individual changes for further discussion and separate votes.

The Board of Selectmen voted to recommend the approval of nearly all proposed changes to the Town Charter — with the exception of the dissolution of the Board of Road Commissioners. The majority of the board members — Selectmen Jim Munise, Alan Slavin and Teitelbaum — voted not to recommend that change.

Voters will weigh in on a citizens’ petition article,  originally proposed for a prior town meeting, that would ban the sale of miniature liquor bottles, called nips. The Selectmen recommended the article be approved, despite Selectman Patrick Tropeano voting “no” and Munise voting “present.”

Many of the same articles that are voted on every year will also be decided on by voters, including a capital plan, budget, funding for union negotiations, and funding for Wareham’s share of the Upper Cape Regional Technical School. As the budget is still being finalized, the board has not yet considered whether or not to recommend many of these articles. 

The people behind two citizens’ petition warrant articles will be invited to a future Selectmen’s meeting to explain their articles, Teitelbaum said. 

The first citizens’ petition article, which pertains to the name of the new elementary school being built on Minot Avenue, will likely be a topic of interest at the Spring Town Meeting. The Board of Selectmen have said that Town Meeting already named the school “Decas School at Minot Forest,” but others say it has not yet been named. A citizens’ petition by School Committee member Mike Flaherty to name the school “Wareham Elementary” is on the warrant. 

The other article would alter the town’s zoning laws, though it is unclear exactly how. That zoning-related warrant article has not yet been made public.

The board decided to wait to consider recommending both citizens’ petition articles.

Special Town Meetings: April 10

The primary focus of the Special Town Meeting and the Special Town Meeting within it will be the Notos Group’s proposal for a Hospitality, Recreation and Entertainment District. 

The Special Town Meeting was initially scheduled for December, and, since then, the text of the zoning proposal has changed significantly — enough that Smith is concerned that the original warrant is no longer valid, although it contains only a placeholder article. 

To be sure that the meeting is legally up to snuff, the board opened another Special Town Meeting for the same date and included the most recent version of the zoning on that warrant.

“This is sort of the big-ticket item for that town meeting,” Teitelbaum said of the Hospitality District article. 

The latest version of the Hospitality, Recreation and Entertainment Overlay District article can be read here: https://www.wareham.ma.us/sites/g/files/vyhlif5146/f/pages/hre_overlay_district_3.9.21.pdf