Politics & Government

2013 Chelmsford Spring Town Meeting Night #3 -- Oak Hill, Dog Parks and Solar Panels

Updates starting tonight around 7 p.m.

11:00 p.m. - "Do we expect cancer patients to cause problems at schools?"

10:53 p.m. - A question on a motion during Article 24 is referred to town council, who says it is not a privledged motion, and it cannot interrupt the introduction of an article.

10:51 p.m. - I saw it was 131-1 for a second, but that one person changed their mind.

Find out what's happening in Chelmsfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

10:50 p.m. - Once upon a time, Oak Hill was one of the most contreversial issues in town. Now, I get the impression that everyone just wants to plow through what's left.

10:42 p.m. - Dog park passes, Moderator congratulates his dog. Only no votes were Jerry Loew, Nancy Knight and Kevin Martin.

Find out what's happening in Chelmsfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

10:19 p.m. - Gail Kruglak says that the lack of a function hall would lose the golf course about $15,000 a year.

10:12 p.m. - "There's one (golf course) in Billerica and one in Westford, and I'm not going to name their names for marketing purposes." - Town Manager Paul Cohen

10:00 p.m. - Motion by hand count to limit question and answer to 15 minutes fails.

9:58 p.m. - Call to Question #2. This time it's passed easily. Time for a vote.

9:54 p.m. - Fran McDougall has issues with Brian Latina addresses Town Meeting during debate. Moderator DeFreitas says that he can during the debate section.

9:49 p.m. - Board of Selectmen chairman Matt Hanson calls Article 19 a win-win, saying that the $18 million on this article would be paid to National Grid anyway if it is not passed.

Other proponents cite that this will eventually have to be done anyway, and it would help students by regulating classroom tempuratures among other reasons.

Opponents cite possible falling natural gas prices, government solar subsidies making savings seem more realistic than they are, the panels being made in China, and possible strong weather damaging the proposed solar panels among other reasons.

It was recommended by the Board of Selectmen 4-1, and by the FinCom 4-3.

9:34 p.m. - Call to question fails. We've got five people in line.

9:28 p.m. - Now in the debate section for Article 19.

9:19 p.m. - Brian Latina asks about negative cash flow for the first few years of the Johnson Controls cost savings, Town Manager Paul Cohen says that money will be spent to allay those costs and that there are other savings from energy saving measures being done by the town.

8:20 p.m. - "If we can afford turf fields, we can afford to house the people who can't afford to live here."

7:37 p.m. - Dennis Ready asks about the Governor's proposal to regionalize town housing authorities, Chelmsford Housing Authority executive director David Hedison says the Governor's proposal is "dead on arrival."

7:02 p.m. - We have a quorum!

We'll continue with updates tonight right here.

You can also watch the meeting live at live.chelmsfordtv.org

# Title Result (Support-Oppose-Abstain)
Time of Debate For Day 1 Results, click here. For Day 2 Results, click here. 17 CPC - Affordable Housing 137-9-0 7:09 p.m. to 8:21 p.m.
19 Energy Management Service (2/3rds)
111-28-0 8:21 p.m. to 9:59 p.m.
19 Call to Question (2/3rds) 78-63-0 (fails) 9:34 p.m. 20 Golf Course Clubhouse 135-6-0 9:59 p.m. to 10:29 p.m.
n/a Motion to Take Article 23 Out of Order Approved by hand count
10:29 p.m.
23 Chelmsford Dog Park 134-3-2 10:29 p.m. to 10:42 p.m.
21 Conservation Land - Oak Hill (2/3rds)
132-2-0 10:42 p.m. to 10:50 p.m.
22 Conservation Land - 4 Parcels (2/3rds)
131-0-0 10:50 p.m. to 10:51 p.m.
24 Zoning - Medical Marijuana (2/3rds)
120-10-0 10:51 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
n/a Motion to Adjourn to Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Moved by hand count 11:03 p.m. 25 Zoning - Medical Marijuana Temporary Moratorium 26 Zoning - Deleting Billboard Overlay District 27 Zoning - Political Signs 28 Town Code - Sprinkler Systems 29 Town Code - Animals Running 30 Street Acceptances 31 Drainage Easement - McFarlin Road 32 Citizen Petition - 9 North Road 33 Citizen Petition - Elected Board of Appeals 34 Citizen Petition - Code of Ethics

 

 

What do you think will happen tonight? Let us know in the comments.


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