Voters will act on 12 warrant articles at the special Town Meeting, which opens on Monday, Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Abbot School. A quorum of 200 is needed.
Article 1 asks the General Court for an additional alcohol license that would be provided to Westford Gateway, LLC, at 66-68 Boston Road owned by Ebrahim Masalehdan of Groton. The license would permit all types of alcohol on the premises of a proposed farm-to-table restaurant on the site.
However, the citizen’s petition was filed by Masalehdan, who has since run up against opposition to his proposed restaurant because the 9-acre Boston Road parcel was put under three 3-acre agricultural restrictions in the late 1990s. Town Meeting voters would have to approve an amendment of one the three restrictions in order for Masalehdan to build a restaurant on the parcel. An article seeking to amend one APR was removed from October’s special Town Meeting warrant at Masalehdan’s request while selectmen seek legal counsel to see if the APR can be legally amended. Therefore, it’s not clear whether Masalehdan will withdraw or keep Article 1.
Article 2 seeks approval to pay bills from the previous fiscal year, whether through borrowing, transferring of funds, or any combination of the two.
Article 3 is designed to adjust the fiscal 2017 operating budget by allowing town officials to raise and appropriate, borrow or transfer from available funds.
Article 4 would allow town officials to transfer sums of money between accounts for the current fiscal year.
Article 5 seeks the following sums:
• $18,625 for the Fire Department to replace a fire truck motor and related repairs;
• $30,000 for the Engineering Department for the appraisal of easements for the Oak Hill Road and Groton Road intersection improvements;
• $50,000 for the Engineering Department for the design of the Complete Streets Prioritization projects.
Article 6 would authorize revolving funds for the current fiscal year under the management of the Town Forest Committee with a spending limit of $25,000 beginning July 1. The revenue would come from the sale of timber gathered from the support and management of town forests.
Article 7 would seek voter approval to amend the Pay Classification Plan for those town employees who are not members of a union.
Article 8 would authorize selectmen to lease space for no more than 10 years for the Parks, Recreation, and Cemetery Department at one of the buildings recently vacated by the Courier/RR Donnelley Printing Facility at 22 Town Farm Road. Selectmen seek approval to appropriate funds to pay for the first year’s lease.
Article 9 would use money from available funds to reduce the net amount to be raised through taxes for the current fiscal year.
Article 10 asks voters to accept the schematic architectural design for the J.V. Fletcher Library and to authorize either the Board of Library Trustees or the Board of Selectman to apply for, accept, and expend any available state grants, if awarded, that would cover the cost of the design, construction and equipping of the library project, contingent upon the receipt of the a state grant.
Article 11 would approve the Community Preservation Committee’s recommendations and to set aside money for open space, historic resources, and community housing.
Article 12 asks voters to accept the layout of Clare Circle as a town public way.
Follow Joyce Pellino Crane on Twitter @joypellinocrane.Â
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