ATHOL — It would be fair for anyone familiar with New England town meetings to characterize Athol’s Annual Town Meeting, held June 13, as, well, a snooze. While shouts of “objection!” and “point of order!” are commonly heard at such gatherings, the crowd on Monday uttered barely a peep.
A total of 126 voters showed up for the meeting and, with one exception, approved without debate the 33 articles on the warrant. The meeting, which included the presentation of awards to two Athol residents, lasted little more than an hour.
A Proposition 2½ debt exclusion seeking $2.5 million to cover the cost of “designing, repairing or replacing the Pinedale Avenue Bridge, the Fryeville Road Bridge, and the Crescent Street Sluiceway” received unanimous support. The proposal had previously garnered overwhelming support from voters at the Annual Town Election on April 4, passing by a margin of 188-46.
A second debt exclusion asking voter approval to borrow $825,000 for the purchase of a new fire pumper for the Fire Department passed 103-2. This question was also approved on April 4 by a vote of 163-71.
In the case of both articles, no questions were raised or comments made from the floor.
The action on these articles at the Annual Town Meeting means borrowing for the bridge work and the fire engine has been officially approved and the related expenditures can move forward. Town Manager Shaun Suhoski told the Athol Daily News that the loan for the bridge work will be paid back over the course of 20 years, while the debt for the fire truck will be retired in five years.
Also passing without debate or inquiry was the proposed FY23 municipal budget of just over $22.4 million. That figure includes about $5.1 million to cover the town’s assessment for the Athol Royalston Regional School District. Voters also approved nearly $374,000 to cover Athol’s share of the budget for the Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School District.
In other action, voters approved the expenditure of $50,000 for the purchase and installation of security cameras at Lake and Silver Lake parks and at Lake Ellis Beach.
The issue of park security arose last December when Rebecca Bialecki, then chair of Athol’s Selectboard, said concerns had been raised by neighbors of Lake Park. At the Selectboard meeting on Dec. 21, “We know that there are probably just a few bad actors among the young people who are trashing the place. But it makes it unusable … especially (for) the younger kids.”
At the time, Bialecki said that in addition to vandalism, some parents had complained about older juveniles — kids in their early to late teens — harassing and threatening younger children at the park. After discussions with police and public works officials, it was decided to place cameras at Lake Park, as well as Silver Lake Park and Ellis Lake Beach, where instances of vandalism had also occurred.
Meeting attendees also voted to remove all Athol Fire Department employees from the Civil Service System, which the town accepted for those workers in 1941. The move requires the passage of home rule legislation by state lawmakers on Beacon Hill.
A pair of zoning amendments, one realigning the borders of downtown commercial districts and others setting the borders of battery energy storage system overlay districts, were also enacted.
The only article generating any comment was the final article on the warrant, which asked Athol voters to support changing the state flag and seal of Massachusetts.
The motion to approve the article was made by Moore Hill Road resident Brooke Coleman.
“Fifty-two cities and towns have approved this already,” Coleman began, “including Orange, New Salem, Royalston and Petersham. It’s a resolution in support of changing the state flag and seal of Massachusetts, and it comes at no cost to the town.”
State Rep. Susannah Whipps rose to support the article, saying, “Several of the towns throughout my district have voted the same language. I’m a co-sponsor of a bill that’s been filed numerous times in the Legislature and it’s really just a bill to (show) how much we’ve changed and how far we’ve come from this image of a sword being wielded over the head of a native person.
“Massachusetts leads the way in education and research and medical and everything else; I really think it’s time we fly a flag that shows who the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is.”
Dan Eaton noted that on May 17 a state commission voted to change the flag and seal.
“This is kind of a moot point,” he said. “It’s a very contentious issue. I certainly support the evolution of the state’s items and vision, as a lot of other people do. But it really is a moot point at this time.”
After calling for the yeas and nays, Town Moderator Lawrence McLaughlin ruled that those in favor of the article were in the majority.
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com