ATHOL — Town Manager Shaun Suhoski has presented Athol’s Selectboard with a copy of the preliminary warrant for the Annual Town Meeting scheduled for Monday, June 13. The board was given the 34-article warrant at its meeting on Tuesday, April 19.
“The warrant closed on April 14,” said Suhoski, “and there will be some internal reviews with the town counsel and the town clerk, the moderator and others — the chair of the board, probably. It’s a group that reviews the language as we go forward. But this is just to give you a summary. This is what I believe will be the entire universe of likely articles.”
The first 19 items are “stock” — or housekeeping — articles, Suhoski explained. They address issues related to the municipal budget, the town’s capital plan, enterprise funds (water and sewer, transfer station), and several other matters. The next two articles cover a couple of big-ticket items.
“Articles 20 and 21,” Suhoski continued, “reflect the proposed debt exclusion questions for fire apparatus and bridge reconstruction. The Town Meeting would need to vote by a two-thirds majority to actually bond those projects.”
At the Annual Town Election on April 4, voters handily approved two Proposition 2½ debt exclusion questions to pay for a new pumper for the Fire Department and to fund three bridge repair/reconstruction projects. State law requires that in addition to approval at the ballot box, debt exclusions also be endorsed at Town Meeting. The estimated cost of the fire truck is just over $700,000, while the bridge work will likely cost in the vicinity of $2.5 million. Exact figures will be available on June 13.
Among other things, town officials are seeking $50,000 for the purchase and installation of security cameras at several town properties, including Silver Lake Park, Lake Park, Lake Ellis and other locations.
At community meetings held to brainstorm possible strategies to combat vandalism, bullying of young children and the intimidation of seniors — mainly by middle and high school-aged youngsters — the installation of cameras was raised on a consistent basis. The need for a plan arose in the wake of numerous incidents at Lake Park.
At a Selectboard meeting in December, then-Chair Rebecca Bialecki said, “I’m feeling an increase in the frustration level of the neighbors, and especially the young families who live near the park and use it as a resource all the time.”
At that same meeting, Police Chief Craig Lundgren said officers were called to Lake Park almost daily during summer months, “Sometimes two or three times a day. Parents would tell the children, the troublemakers, ‘Don’t tell the police your name. You don’t have to identify yourself.’”
Town officials hope consistent surveillance of the parks will, at the very least, reduce the incidence of vandalism and harassment.
Also on the warrant, said Suhoski, “is my request — was my request — and is now the request of the EDIC (Economic Development and Industrial Corporation) to transfer ownership of the (downtown) parking deck — I should say ‘condemned,’ for lack of a better word, parking deck — to the EDIC for redevelopment. Probably demolition and redevelopment.”
Both the EDIC and the Downtown Vitality Committee are hoping the site of the deck can be used for construction of more downtown retail space and affordable housing.
The final article — Article 34 — was placed on the warrant via citizen petition. It asks that the flag and seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts be changed to “better reflect our aspirations for harmonious and respectful relations between all people who now call Massachusetts home.”
Indigenous American leaders and racial justice activists have long advocated for Massachusetts to change its state seal, which also adorns the state flag. The seal depicts a Native American standing beneath a disembodied arm wielding a sword and the Latin motto, “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.”
In January 2021, Elizabeth Solomon, an elder of the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag, said, “The imagery of the current flag and seal promotes a history of conquest, appropriation and genocide.”
Locally, towns that have voted in favor of the change include Erving, New Salem, Orange, Royalston, Warwick and Wendell.
In coming weeks, the Selectboard and the Finance and Warrant Advisory Committee will meet separately and vote on whether of not to recommend passage of individual articles. Recommendations typically are not offered regarding passage of articles generated by citizen petition.
The June 13 Annual Town Meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in Memorial Hall at Athol Town Hall.
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com