Board of Selectmen Minutes

Board of Selectmen                              Present:        Curtis Plante

July 7, 2008                                                    Kenneth F. Troup

                                                                Stanley Wysocki

                                                Jodi Ross, Town Administrator

                                                Linda L. Day, Town Secretary

The Board of Selectmen met at the Town Hall at 7:00 p.m. to discuss whether to hold or cancel the Special Town Meeting scheduled for July 14, 2008.  

A letter dated July 2, 2008 was received from Michael McCarthy of Condyne, LLC stating that he would like to withdraw the request for the articles on the Special Town Meeting warrant to amend the bylaw which outlaws the sale of automobiles.~

~Mr. McCarthy stated that an issue came to light in which Enterprise changed their requirement from 1 acre of parking to a minimum of 3 acres.~ Condyne, LLC could no longer meet their demands based on the zoning, building parking ratio and most importantly what was originally presented to the town.

Ms. Ross reported that the Board of Selectmen did not have the authority to cancel a town meeting once the Selectmen have closed and mailed the town meeting warrant to residents.  Therefore, the only way the town meeting would not take place is if there were not the required 75 voters for a quorum.

There are four other articles on the warrant besides the two articles to amend the zoning bylaws.  They include amending the town’s base map by deleting the water resource protection district and by adding Oak Trail; correcting a numbering typo and adding a table of contents to the personnel bylaw; and an article to designate an official to issue trench excavation permits by January of 2009.  

Moderator Jim Anker confirmed that based on the fact that the town meeting has been called, the warrant has been posted and mailed to all households the town meeting must be opened if there is a quorum of 75.   Opening the meeting can mean adjourning the meeting to some future date but the meeting can not be dissolved.  If a quorum of 75 is not present a motion can be made to adjourn to the next town meeting.  

Ms. Ross stated that the two zoning bylaw articles did not properly address the issues related to the Class II licenses and they would have to be amended to address this issue.  Town Counsel did not feel the public hearing notices addressed the Class II issue and recommended these articles be passed over.  In the meantime, the Board of Selectmen should not issue the Class II licenses when they come up for renewal.   

After a lengthy discussion the Board of Selectmen agreed to hold the Special Town meeting to address the 4 remaining articles.

On a motion made by Wysocki and seconded by Troup, the Board of Selectmen voted to disapprove articles 2 & 3 of the Special Town Meeting warrant related to the zoning bylaw amendments for the car sales. (Plante – yes, Troup – yes, Wysocki – yes)

Mr. Troup agreed to draft an article for the Bolton Common confirming that the special town meeting will be held on July 14, 2008.  A notice will also be posted to the website.  

Meeting adjourned.