January 30, 2024 Special Town Meeting Results

The following are the results of the January 30, 2024 Town Meeting:

• Article 1 Acquisition and Appropriation – 1 Central Street: APPROVED BY VOICE VOTE
• Article 2 Amend FY 2024 Operating Budget: PASSED OVER
• Article 3 Amend FY 2024 Capital Budget: APPROVED BY VOICE VOTE

Thank you to the 378 voters who attended.

For a copy of the presentation made to Town Meeting, please click here: https://www.northreadingma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif3591/f/news/january_3...

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The Select Board has called a Special Town Meeting to be held on Tuesday, January 30th at 7:00 PM in the Gymnasium at North Reading Middle/High School located at 189 Park Street.  Please note that in order for the Town to conduct business at this Special Town Meeting, a quorum of at least one hundred fifty (150) voters must be present and under state law remote/virtual participation is not allowed. Your attendance is encouraged and appreciated.

The purpose of this Town Meeting is to authorize and appropriate funding for the purchase of property located at 1 Central Street. This property abuts Town-owned land that includes the current Recreation Center, Parks and Recreation maintenance building, and overflow parking for Ipswich River Park.  Considerations for potential future use have included an indoor recreation facility, an updated Parks maintenance building, and/or an intergenerational community center, although other potential municipal uses may be identified in the future.  Depending on the eventual use, state legislative approval may be required.  Regardless of the potential future use of the site, the acquisition of the single family lot at 1 Central Street would provide additional contiguous land and frontage on Central Street.  This purchase price is $650,000 and is anticipated to be funded using available funds without the need for a debt exclusion or override.  Town Meeting must authorize this acquisition and funding by a two-thirds majority vote no later than February 15th in order to proceed with the purchase. 

In addition the potential purchase of the property at 1 Central Street, there are also articles for the potential amendment of the current fiscal year operating (Article 2) and capital (Article 3) budgets.  Components of the capital budget amendment are expected to include authorizing supplemental funding for continued design development for the fire station renovation project, safety improvements to the intersection of North and Central Streets, and water tank re-painting.  A memorandum with recommemndations from the Town's Capital Improvement Planning Committee may be found here: https://www.northreadingma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif3591/f/news/cipc_reco...

Please note that funding relative to wastewater and/or sewer is not being requested at this Special Town Meeting.  Such funding is anticipated to be requested at a future Town Meeting that has not been scheduled yet.

 A copy of the Special Town Meeting warrant may be found here:  https://www.northreadingma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif3591/f/news/1-2024_st...

RELATED NOTICES:

Register to Vote for Special Town Meeting
Under state law, only residents who are registered as voters in North Reading as of January 20, 2024 may participate in this Town Meeting.  Residents who are not registered to vote as of that date may attend Town Meeting but may not vote and will be seated separate from registered voters.  In addition to its regular office hours, the Town Clerk's office will be open Saturday, January 20th from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Informational Hearing at Town Hall and Via Zoom Technology
The Select Board will host a Warrant Article Informational Hearing regarding this Special Town Meeting on Monday, January 29th at 8:00 PM in Room 14 at Town Hall and via Zoom technology.  The purpose of this Informational Hearing is to give residents a chance to learn more about the warrant articles, to ask questions, and to be able to discuss the warrant articles before Town Meeting as much as possible. Resident votes will not be taken at the January 29th informational hearing; residents are encouraged to attend and vote at the Special Town Meeting on January 30th.  Information regarding how to access the hearing may be found below:

Join Zoom Meeting 
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82366018385

Or dial in by phone
888 475 4499 US Toll-free 

Meeting ID: 823 6601 8385