Bridgewater Buzz-
Special Edition, Aug. 15, 2008
Mission
Citizens for a Better
Bridgewater (CBB) is an organization of concerned
and active citizens dedicated to improving Bridgewater
through resident education. This edition of Bridgewater
Buzz is dedicated exclusively to the issues
being considered at the Special Town Meeting
to be held on August 25, 2008 at 7 p.m. at the
Bridgewater Raynham Regional High School auditorium.
CBB is dedicated to providing residents with
the resources necessary for making informed decisions
at Town Meeting and is not publicly endorsing
or opposing any of the articles being proposed
at Special Town Meeting.
General Information
The Warrant
Article 1
Article 1 seeks to transfer $20,000 from the Capital
Projects Fund and set it aside to be used for repairs
to the Bridgewater Public Library's portico. Because
the funds for this project will come from the Capital
Projects Fund's principle, passage of this article
requires a 4/5th vote.
Article 2
Article 2 will allow Bridgewater to accept $150,000
in reimbursement from an insurance payment to replace
a compost rotary screening unit that was destroyed
in a fire at the wastewater treatment facility.
Because the sum of money to needed to replace this
unit exceeds $20,000, approval at Town Meeting
is required.
Article 3
Article 3 seeks to accomplish the following.
1) Reduce the amount to be raised by taxation originally
approved at the May 5th Town Meeting by $200,000.
This action is sought because $200,000 in state
aid for snow and ice removal that was included
in the May 5th revenue total will not be forthcoming.
2) Make additional cuts to certain departmental
budgets totaling $308,957 and reallocate these
funds to address anticipated needs and liabilities.
The article seeks the following cuts, totaling
$508, 957.
|
$27,000 |
|
$10,000 |
|
$100,000 |
|
$100,000 |
|
$45, 957 |
|
$226,000 |
The article seeks to earmark funds totaling $308,957
to address the following anticipated needs and
liabilities.
|
$43,957 |
|
$34,000 |
|
$43,000 |
|
$60,000 |
|
$35,000 |
|
$93,000 |
Town Meeting Procedures
Town meetings are governed by the procedures outlined
in "Town Meeting Time", a procedural handbook
developed by the Massachusetts Moderator's Association.
Discussion, amendments and motions on articles
must remain within the scope of articles as they
are printed in the warrant. For example, the scope
of article #3 includes the dollar amounts and the
specific accounts and line items listed in the
article. Therefore, the dollar amounts of the
article, the $200,000 budget reduction and the
$308,000 in transfers, can only be reduced by amendments
or subsequent motions at the Meeting. The dollar
amounts cannot be increased. Also, any motions
or amendments that involve any budget line items
and accounts not listed in the warrant article
will have to be ruled out of order.
Voters who wish to amend any article on the warrant
should do so in writing. It would be helpful for
those voters to provide two written copies, one
each for the Moderator and the Town Clerk. There
will be carbon forms available at the Meeting.
Providing amendments and motions in writing, with
two copies, will insure an accurate vote and recording
for the official minutes of Town Meeting.
If any voter wants clarification of a particular
issue, or clarification of a vote on an article, she
or he may call for a "point of information" and
ask a question, "through the moderator". All comments,
discussion and motions are to be made through the
moderator to ensure a certain amount of civility
and order at Town Meeting.
If any voter, for any Town Meeting, has a question
on procedure they may approach the moderator prior
to the meeting to get that information.
A note from your Town Moderator, Gregory
Lee
"The issues at Town Meeting can be quite heated
and divisive. Voters should always remember that
the people they are in heated disagreement with,
today, may be the voters they need to stand united
with, on a different issue on another day. After
every Town Meeting, we all have to go back to
the experience of being neighbors together, raising
our kids together, growing older together, and
making a life and a living, here in Bridgewater.
Voters should avoid personal attacks, personal
arguments, and only focus on the merits of the issues
in the warrant articles at Town Meeting."
Additional Information
"After several successful fund-raisers
- PizzaFest and Wine Tasting, plus our regular
book sales, the Friends has generated donations
to assist in purchasing library books and materials.
(In previous years, we supplemented core library
services with museum passes and adult and children's
programming). The Friends can not contribute
towards salaries or operating expenses - that
funding must come from town appropriations. This
spring, we received a grant from the Bridgewater
Savings Bank and along with a contribution from
Friends, we were able to purchase 8 public access
computers. Unless the town is able to increase
the number of hours the library is open, these
resources which are already available, will go
largely un-utilized. The Library has become the "slush" fund
for the town. Libraries benefit all citizens
and need to be funded."
Registration has started
for the Bridgewater Recreation Summer Programs. Forms
and information are available on the Recreation
website: www.bridgewaterma.org/government/recreation.
Programs being offered are Archery, Basketball,
Summer Recreation Program, Skyhawks Sport Program,
and the Aquatics program offered through Bridgewater
State College.
Also, new this year:
FREE PARK PASS - "Use Nature as
Your Guide" Program
Bridgewater Recreation is offering residents of
Bridgewater a FREE ParkPass. This pass entitles
the bearer to free parking for one vehicle (no
buses or vans) at over 50 facilities in the Massachusetts
state parks system. Go on your own, or participate
in one of the two new parks programs:
1) 2008 Great Park Pursuit -
a free family adventure! The Great Parks Pursuit
is a six week challenge aimed at teaching kids
about the great outdoors and the vast number of
state parks throughout the Commonwealth. This is
part of the No Child Left Inside Initiative, designed
to build the next generation of environmental stewards.
Register online at www.greatparkpursuit.org.
2) Park Passport Program - The
program provides free passport books and invites
participants to visit each of the 76 featured facilities.
The passbooks will be stamped with a custom park
stamp depicting a special feature of the park.
For more information, visit www.mass.gov/dcr.
Contact Bridgewater Recreation at 508-697-8020
to reserve your one day pass.
The Stand for Children state-wide
organization is lobbying to increase
school funding in Massachusetts. They're
going to be asking House members and Senators
on Beacon Hill to pass legislation that would
close corporate tax loopholes and dedicate
more revenue to the Chapter 70 education
funds that fund schools.
Their opening session is from 10:15-11:10
in Nurses Hall at the State House. For more
information, visit Stand's website: http://www.stand.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=783&srci=d263
The blurb from their website:
Day on the Hill - April 15, 2008 This spring,
Beacon Hill lawmakers face decisions that
affect every child in Massachusetts. Schools
remain inadequately funded, and with dropout
rates approaching 50% for some communities,
it's high time the public and lawmakers tackled
the changes we need.
On April 15, lawmakers need to hear that you
care about improving our schools. Please join
citizens from over 50 communities us as we
converge on the State House and call for relief,
reform and innovation in public education.
NOTE*****
CBB does not necessarily support
or endorse this
campaign given its potentially harmful effects
on
local businesses; however, we realize that
a
significant portion of our membership is comprised
of
parents with school-aged children so we wanted
to make
you aware of this opportunity. As members,
it's your
decision whether or not to support this effort.
|
We Need You!
The Citizens for a Better Bridgewater has recently
reorganized our group into the following Committees:
- Membership/Fundraising
- Communications
- General Government Partnership
- School Partnership
We need volunteers on each of these Committees. To
see
full Committee Descriptions, please visit the "Get
Involved" page
Volunteers can put in as much or as little time
as
they feel comfortable. We ask you to consider
investing a small portion of your time to helping
create a better Bridgewater. Thank you! |
