ATHOL – Voters were still checking in for Monday’s Special Town Meeting when Select Board Chair Bill Chiasson and Town Manager Shaun Suhoski took to the podium to announce that the meeting had to be postponed.
By that time, some 139 people had signed in to vote on the 10 article-warrant, well above the 102 required for a quorum.
“Thank you for coming,” Chiasson told the crowd. “Nice to have such a good number of people here.
“Unfortunately, procedurally we made a mistake,” he said. “Does anyone know what it is?”
“No postcards,” came a voice from the audience.
“No postcards,” Chiasson confirmed, “and our charter requires – it says we ‘shall,’ not ‘should’ – we shall mail the postcards, deliver the postcards. It didn’t happen. So, if we were to conduct this meeting this evening, it would be in violation (of the charter), and we’d probably be in trouble with the state Attorney General’s Office.”
Chiasson said the meeting was being postponed until Monday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.
“I do sincerely apologize,” said Chaisson. “I’m chair of the board and therefore the buck stops here. I’ll take the responsibility for it, and I hope you can all return on Nov. 30…to conduct our business legally.”
Section 2, Chapter 3, Paragraph 11 of the Town Charter reads, “At least 14 days prior to the date of any Town Meeting, a notice therefore shall be mailed or delivered by the Select Board to each residence of one or more voters.”
Among the articles on the warrant is a proposed year-long moratorium on the establishment of data centers in town.
Article 9 asks voters to enact “a temporary moratorium on the use, construction, development, expansion, or conversion of land or structures for data centers. During the moratorium period, the town shall not accept, process, or approve any application for the construction, conversion, or establishment of a data center…”
The moratorium would prohibit the granting of special permits, site plan approvals or “any other zoning or land use approvals.”
Article 1 seeks a transfer of $40,000 from a salary line item to fund the legal budget for the fiscal year, needed in part due to a lawsuit field by James Parmenter, who wanted to establish a sober house at 217 Spring St.
Article 4 calls for amending the bylaws relative to the town’s responsibility for upkeep of private roads in Athol. Those repairs will take place, according to the article, only when the superintendent of the Department of Public Works deems them warranted in order to make the road safe for travel, subject to speaking with the town manager for the availability of funds. Repairs may include pothole patching and grading of gravel surfaces.
The article expressly forbids major work, such as reconstruction, paving, tree trimming or removal, widening, drainage system installation, utility work or capital improvements.
Other articles include a transfer of $46,900 from the ambulance reserve account to pay for new cardiac monitors and other emergency medical supplies for the Fire Department ambulances, and a transfer of $3,500 from the Parking Benefits District Account to purchase a storage unit for parking meters, meter replacement parts and related materials.