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Uxbridge Times
“Your Hometown News” Vol. 24 • Issue 6
FREE Monthly Since 1991
uxbrIdge • North uxbrIdge • lINwood • douglas • NorthbrIdge • whItINsVIlle • suttoN • MaNchaug
JuNe 2015
Sutton TM stumbles on School Budget By Constance Dwyer
Volunteers celebrate Earth Day by cleaning up the Blackstone SEE StoRy on pagE 10 River from Millbury to Blackstone.
Big ticket items and little controversy at Northbridge TM By Constance Dwyer In his 41st year as Town Moderator, Harold Gould, conducted another well executed Spring Annual Town Meeting on May 5th, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Northbridge Middle School. An invocation was given by Rev. Valerie May Roberts-Taler, Pastor of the Blackstone Valley United Methodist Church, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. What was especially poignant was the moment of silence Moderator Gould requested in memory of the late Corporal John Dawson who lost his young life defending our country. Everyone stood respectfully for this special moment to remember their hometown boy. Board of Selectman Chairman Charles Ampagoomian Jr read a letter from the Dawson family expressing their gratitude for the “outpouring of support” and the support of all town officials and employees, town residents, including children, who lined the streets carrying flags and viewing yellow ribbons adorning the streets in loving memory of their son.
POSTAL PATRON
In the 22 article warrant, business was pro forma with “unanimous” votes except for one no vote on Art. 17 seeking $192,500 to purchase a new street sweeper and Art. 21 seeking $300,000 to purchase and install snap on water meter readers/transmitters and associated reading equipment for the Town of Northbridge Water Distribution System. Moderator Gould acknowledged that there was confusion with the explanations of this article as presented, after a number of residents asked voters to vote “no” because of unknown cost, stating “it is not a good deal for residents, in that the purchase does not include new meter installations and that water bills are high enough.” Because the voice vote was questionable, the Moderator asked for a standing head count and the article passed 46 to 21. Notably, the Board of Selectman, and Finance Committee members were all in favor of this article. Article 1, to basically pay the prior year’s bills, was “passed over” because the good news was that all past bills had been paid! Art. 2 amended appropriations for the FY 2015 by interdepartPRESORTED STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID BOSTON, MA PERMIT NO 55800
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mental line item transfers within that budget. Appropriately, Moderator Gould had residents approve each line item for these transfers which were approved unanimously. Art. 3, the Town’s line item operating budget for FY 2016, segmented by functions which were further segmented by departments, all were approved by unanimous vote for a total of $39,618,323. The School Department was the only one debated. Art. 4 passed unanimously for $2,242,656 for expenses and debt service to operate the Sewer Enterprise of the Dept. of Public Works for FY 2016, to be offset by betterments and other revenues received by the Sewer Enterprise Fund. Art. 5 also passed unanimously for $1,645,005 for expenses and debt service to operate the Water Enterprise of the Dept. of Public Works for FY 2016, to be offset by revenues of the Water Enterprise Fund. Art. 6 was voted unanimously to authorize the Board of Selectmen to expend Chapter 90 money for the repair and maintenance of Town roads and continued on page 14
Business BiO
J. L. Darling Septic tank pumping Co. Scott (pictured at far right) and Harry Stewart, owners of J. L. Darling Septic Tank Pumping Co. in Uxbridge, explain how “maintenance” is important in caring for your septic system.
See story on page 33
Sutton Town Meetings have traditionally been short, finishing in less than an hour. However, its Spring Annual Town Meeting (SATM) held at 7 pm on Monday, May 11, 2015 in the new Sutton Middle/High School auditorium lasted over 2 and a half hours. This was due to a “serious,” (according to the Moderator) point of order on Art. 4, the Sewer Enterprise FY 2016 budget and a failure to pass Art. 6 the FY 2016, town budget. According to Town Clerk Laura Caruso, only 125 of Sutton’s 5,970 registered voters were present to vote on the 18 article warrant. Selectman John Hebert acknowledged his own disappointment in such a small turnout. A motion on Art. 1 to accept the Annual reports of Sutton Officials and Multi Member Bodies passed unanimously after a brief comment by James Dwyer, Sewer Commission Clerk, stating that the report of the Sewer Commission published in the FY 2014 Annual Report was not the version of the report approved and submitted by the Commission. He noted that the Commission had approved and submitted a revised version. It included among other changes the Commission’s thanks to Barbara Bessette who had served on the commission in FY 2014. He suggested that a more timely submission and review schedule for such reports could prevent this kind of failure and that this snapshot of Sutton’s history should be as important to the Historical Commission as buildings. Articles 2 and 3, the annual authorizations for the Cemetery Commission and Board of Health passed unanimously, allowing them to employ themselves in performing their duties. After a motion to accept the Art.4 Sewer Department Enterprise budget was made and seconded, though not in the balanced line-item format submitted to the Selectmen as required by the Enterprise Law, and then reported on by the Finance and Warrant Advisory Committee, Mr. Dwyer, Sewer Commission Clerk, rose to a “Point of Order” suggesting that the motion proposed an illegal action. He based his challenge on three facts and no opinions. First was the map of Sutton showing the continued on page 12
~ INDEX ~ Town News ..............Page 4 Calendar...................Page 21 Society .....................Page 23 Senior Corner ..........Page 25 School News............Page 29 Business News........Page 33 Sports.......................Page 35 Classified .................Page 39