The fourth and final night of Town Meeting, which ended minutes before 11:30 p.m. on Monday, May 24, featured several Community Preservation Committee (CPC) orders of business, zoning amendments, and the creation of a stabilization fund for the town.

Debate was spurred by proposals to use funds to repair the roofs on two buildings on the Tremont Nail property, as well as proposals to purchase a conservation restriction on the Patterson's Brook property and 110 acres of land held by BKT Realty Trust. Click here to read more.

Two zoning amendments proposed by the Planning Board were sent for further study, and a zoning change proposed by a citizen's petition was rejected. For more, click here.

The town voted to place $100,000 into a stabilization fund for emergencies. It has not had such a fund in several years.

The town also voted to indefinitely postpone a proposal to investigate potential uses for the Swifts Beach property, which was taken by the town by eminent domain several years ago. Click here to read more.

The third night of Town Meeting, despite some initial technical difficulties with a Power Point presentation, began debating whether to accept a new charter presented by the Charter Review Committee which replaces town meeting with a mayor and town council.  The proposed charter was soundly defeated.

Discussion at the meeting also concerned:

Lease of police vehicles.  The town approved $99,224 for the first year of leasing eight new police cruisers and a SUV but not before expressing frustration that the vehicles were purchased without Town Meeting's permission.
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Zoning changes.  The town strengthened wetlands protection by adding a "no-activity zone" within 30 feet of wetlands for residential properties and within 50 feet of property for commercial properties. 
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Tuesday, May 4, brought high drama to Town Meeting.  Issues discussed included:

Senior Affordable housing.  The town rejected an article to pursue senior affordable housing proposal at the Westfield site by only five votes.  After the project was defeated, the town voted to form a committee to further study the proposal and come back with recommendations at the next Town Meeting.
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Sewer fees and the sewer budget. Questions and concerns over the sewer budget, including the possible use of prepaid betterment fees as a funding source for other expenditures, cost cuts, and a tight budget that reduces the reserve fund used for emergency costs, provoked discussion.
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On Monday, May 3, the town passed 23 routine articles. It also voted to pass a $46.2 million operating budget out of a proposed $59 million budget and to appropriate $2 million for its share of the operating costs of Upper Cape Cod Regional Vocational-Technical High School.

Discussion concerned (click on the underlined text to link to access separate stories on the issues:

• Selectmen and salaries.  A proposed amendment to give a stipend to Selectmen was defeated, but salaries under the Selectmen's line item caused significant discussion as citizens tried to understand the 2010 increase in the budget.  
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• The Capital Planning Committee presented a preliminary report estimating that the town will face nearly $60 million worth of expenses in the next five years.
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• A motion to transfer the control of a fund that authorizes school transportation from the School Committee to the Town Administrator was defeated.