________________
WARRANT
for the
ANNUAL TOWN
MEETING
Monday, May 5,
2003
7:30 P.M.
Dover-Sherborn Regional
School
Lindquist Commons
and
TOWN ELECTIONS
Monday, May 19, 2003
7:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Dover Town House
WARRANT COMMITTEE OPEN HEARING
Monday, March 31, 2003 at 7:30
PM
Dover Town House
ARTICLES OF
THE WARRANT
ANNUAL TOWN
MEETING 2003
Norfolk,
ss.
To
any of the Constables of the Town of Dover in said County, Greetings;
In the name of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts you are hereby required to notify and warn the inhabitants of the
Town of Dover, qualified as the Constitution requires to vote in elections and
in Town affairs, to meet in the Lindquist Commons Building at the
Dover-Sherborn Regional High School in said Town on Monday, the 5th day of May,
2003, at seven-thirty o'clock in the evening then and there to act on the
following articles, to wit:
Article
1. (Selectmen) To hear and act on the various reports of the various
committees:
(a)
As contained in the printed 2002 Annual Report;
(b)
Any other reports submitted to the voters by the Town Committees.
Article
2. (Assessors) To see if the Town will
accept the provisions of Section 4 of Chapter 73 of the Acts of 1986 as amended
by Chapter 126 of the Acts of 1988, in order to allow an additional real estate
tax exemption of up to 100 percent in Fiscal Year 2004 for those who qualify
for an exemption under clauses 17D, 22, 22A, 22B, 22C, 22D, 22E, 37A, 41C, 42
or 43 of Section 5, Chapter 59 of the Massachusetts General Laws; or take any
other action relative thereto.
Article
3. (Selectmen) To see if the Town will
set the salaries for its elected officials for the ensuing fiscal year, or take
any other action relative thereto.
Article
4. (Selectmen) To see what sum the Town
will raise and appropriate for salaries and expenditures by departments,
officers, boards, and committees of the Town for the ensuing fiscal year; to
determine whether the money shall be included in the tax levy, transferred from
available funds, or provided by any combination of these methods; or take any
other action relative thereto.
Article
5. (Selectmen) To see what sums the
Town will raise and appropriate for the various capital purposes listed below;
to determine whether the money shall be included in the tax levy, transferred
from available funds, borrowed, or provided by any combination of these
methods; or take any other action relative thereto:
1.
Cemetery Department
John Deere Utility Vehicle
with Plow
2. Highway Department
Backhoe/Loader
3.
Park and Recreation Department
Caryl Park: Bark Mulch, Picnic Tables, Electric
4.
Police Department
Patrol Vehicles (2)
Radars
5.
Selectmen
Town House Restroom Restoration
Copier
Town House Boiler
Article 6. (Selectmen) To see what sum the Town will raise and appropriate, or appropriate by transfer from available funds for the purpose of funding an unemployment compensation fund as authorized by Chapter 40, Section 5E, of the Massachusetts General Laws; or take any other action relative thereto.
Article
7. (Selectmen) To see what sum the Town
will raise and appropriate, or appropriate by transfer from available funds to
provide for the payment of accumulated sick leave to retired police officers as
authorized by Chapter 375 of the Acts of 1984; or take any other action
relative thereto.
Article
8. (Selectmen) To see what sum the Town will vote to raise and appropriate, or
appropriate by transfer from available funds or borrow, or any combination of
these methods, for highway construction, reconstruction and other improvements
under the authority of the Massachusetts General Laws as funded by various
state budgets; and to authorize the Selectmen to enter into contracts, apply
for, and accept, expend and borrow in anticipation of state aid for such
projects; or take any other action relative thereto.
Article
9. (Selectmen) To see if the Town will
vote pursuant to the Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 44, Section 53E 1/2, to
authorize the use of revolving fund accounts for the following boards or
departments, and that unless otherwise amended by Town Meeting, such accounts
shall not exceed the amounts provided as set forth in this Warrant Article for
fiscal year 2004:
Building Department
a.
Gas Inspector $ 4,000
b. Plumbing Inspector $14,800
c. Wiring Inspector $20,000
Board of Health
a. Perk & Deep Hole
inspection and permitting $40,000
b. Septic inspection and
permitting $40,000
c. Well inspection and
permitting $15,000
d. Swimming Pool inspection and
permitting $10,000
Dover School Committee
a. School Instrumental Music $25,000
Building Maintenance $ 5,000
and
further, that the fees received in connection with these programs be credited
to the respective accounts and that the respective board or department be
authorized to make expenditures from these accounts in accordance with the
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 44, Section 53E 1/2; or take any other
action relative thereto.
Article
10. (Dover-Sherborn Regional School Committee) To see if the Town will vote to
approve the indebtedness authorized by the Regional District School Committee
of the Dover-Sherborn School District for the purpose of purchasing 36 acres of
land, more or less, from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts consisting of a
portion of Medfield State Hospital, located off Farm Street, Dover,
Massachusetts; or take any other action relative thereto.
Article
11. (Board of Fire Engineers) To see if the Town will accept the provisions of
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 44, Section 100G ½ and vote to raise and
appropriate, or appropriate by transfer of available funds, up to $5,000 for
the purpose of paying for funeral and burial expenses for any member of the
Dover Fire Department, including Ambulance personnel, killed while performing
duties; or take any other action relative thereto.
Article
12. (Citizens’ Petition) To see if the
Town will vote to raise and appropriate, or transfer from available funds, a
sum of money to supplement the funds donated by private citizens to build a
handicapped accessible playground at Caryl Park; or take any other action
relative thereto.
Article
13. (Citizens’ Petition) To see if the Town will vote to authorize
the Board of Selectmen, upon the petition received from Jacqueline Hassman of 1
Burnham Road; Barbara Allen and Randolph Robinson of 2 Burnham Road; Ronald and
Faith Frisch of 3 Burnham Road; Robert and Judy Davis of 4 Burnham Road; Marion
Santoro of 5 Burnham Road, all citizens of the Town of Dover, to: (1)
discontinue Burnham Road as a town way pursuant to Chapter 82, Section 21 of
the Massachusetts General Laws and (2) take such action as required by Chapter
82, Section 24 of the Massachusetts General Laws; or take any other action relative thereto.
Article
14. (Citizens’ Petition) To see if the Town will vote to authorize
the Board of Selectmen, upon the petition received from Beverly Holt-Halford of
2 Hutton Road and Jeffrey and Jennifer Atwood of 3 Hutton Road and Dana and
Jack Maxwell of 4 Hutton Road and Chip and Ford Spalding of 5 Hutton Road and
Michael and Carla Reveliotty of 6 Hutton Road, all citizens of the Town of
Dover, to: (1) discontinue Hutton Road
as a town way pursuant to Chapter 82, Section 21 of the Massachusetts General
Laws and (2) take such action as required by Chapter 82, Section 24 of the
Massachusetts General Laws; or take any other action relative thereto.
Article
15. (Planning Board) To see if the Town
will amend the Zoning Bylaw to correct a scrivener’s error in the current text
of section 185-19.A.(3) by deleting reference to section 189-19.A.(2) and inserting
section 185-19.A.(2) in describing the definition of a way; or take any other
action relative thereto.
Article
16. (Board of Selectmen) To see if the Town will accept Snows Hill
Road as accepted public way, as laid out by the Board of Selectmen, all as
shown on plans on file in the Office of the Town Clerk; or take any other
action relative thereto.
Article
17. (Dover School Building
Committee) To see if the Town will vote
to raise and appropriate, appropriate by transfer from available funds, or
borrow, or any combination of these methods, a sum of money, in addition to the
amount appropriated under Article 1.of the warrant for the February 6, 1999
Special Town Meeting for the purpose of designing, constructing, equipping and
furnishing a new school at the Chickering School site; or take any other action
relative thereto.
Article
18. (Open Space Committee) To see if the Town will vote to endorse a
resolution declaring that the 160 acre Medfield State Hospital site in
Medfield, Massachusetts is a valuable public resource with important aquifer,
wildlife, esthetic, and open space attributes; or take any other action
relative thereto.
Article
19. (Dover School Committee) To see if the Town will vote to accept the
proviso in MGL c. 40, Section 3 to allow the balances remaining in the School
Committee revolving fund at the close of the fiscal year to remain in said
account, and/or raise and appropriate, or transfer from available funds, a sum
of money for the upkeep and maintenance of facilities under the control of the
School Committee; or take any other action relative thereto.
Article 20. (Assessors) To see if the Town will accept the provisions of Chapter 184, Section 51 of the Acts of 2002, which amend Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 59, Section 5, Clause 41C, in order to make the following changes to the eligibility age, gross receipt and whole estate limit requirements seniors must satisfy in order to qualify for an exemption beginning in FY2004:
· To reduce the eligibility age from 70 to 65 years of age as of the applicable July 1 qualification date;
or take any other action relative thereto.
Article
21. (Warrant Committee) To see if the
Town will appropriate pursuant to Chapter 40, Section 6 of the Massachusetts
General Laws, a sum not to exceed 5% of the tax levy of the 2002-2003 fiscal
year to be a Reserve Fund, from which transfers are voted by the Warrant
Committee from time to time and transferred as provided by statute, and
determine whether the money shall be provided by the tax levy, by transfer from
available funds including the Reserve Fund Overlay Surplus, or by any
combination of these methods; or take any other action relative thereto.
Article
22. (Warrant Committee) To see what sum the Town will raise and appropriate, or
appropriate by transfer from available funds to pay any unpaid bills rendered
to the Town for prior years; or take any other action relative thereto.
Article
23. (Warrant Committee) To see if the Town will make supplemental appropriations
to be used in conjunction with money appropriated under Article 4 of the
Warrant for the 2002 Annual Town Meeting, to be expended during the current
fiscal year, or make any other adjustments to the Fiscal Year 2003 budget that
may be necessary, and determine whether the money shall be provided by transfer
from available funds; or take any other action relative thereto.
Article
24. (Warrant Committee) To see if the Town will vote to transfer from Free Cash
in the Treasury an amount to meet the appropriations for the ensuing fiscal
year and will authorize the Board of Assessors to use the same to reduce the
tax rate; or take any other action relative thereto.
Article
25. (Selectmen) To see what sum the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or
appropriate by transfer from available funds for the purpose of supplementing
the Town of Dover Stabilization Fund in accordance with Chapter 40, Section 5B
of the
Massachusetts
General Laws; or take any other action relative thereto.
And in the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
you are hereby further required to notify and warn the inhabitants of the Town
of Dover, qualified as aforesaid,
to
assemble at the Town House in said Monday, the 19th of May, 2003 at
seven o'clock in the forenoon, then and there to act on the following article,
to wit:
Article
26. To choose by ballot the following
Town Offices:
Moderator....................................................................…. one year
One member of the Board of
Selectman......................…. three years
One member of the Board of
Assessors.......................…. three years
One member of the Dover School Committee.
.…......…. three years
One member of the Dover/Sherborn
Regional School
Committee........................….…. three years
Two members of the Board of Library
Trustees…............ three years
One member of the Board of Cemetery
Commissioners…three years
One member of the Planning
Board.................................. five years
Two members of the Park & Recreation
Commission...... three years
One member of the Board of
Health.................................. three years
For
these purposes the polls will be open at seven o'clock in the forenoon and will
close at eight o'clock in the evening.
And you are directed to serve this
warrant by (1) posting attested copies thereof on each of the bulletin boards
erected in the Town House, at the Post Office, and in no less than three other
Public places where bills and notices are usually posted; and (2) mailing a
copy thereof to or leaving same at the residence of every registered voter
fourteen days at least before the time of holding said Meeting.
Hereof
fail not and make due return of the Warrant with your doings thereon to the
Town Clerk at or before the time of the Meeting.
Given under our hands this 12th
day of March 2003.
___________________________________
Douglas W. Scott, Chairman
____________________________________
Tobe
Deutschmann Jr., Clerk
____________________________________
Kathleen W. Weld, Member
_______________________
Carl
E. Sheridan, Constable
A
true copy attest: