Town Meeting fall 2006

[Tom]

School chairman tells TM more money is needed

School officials will meet with selectmen next month to discuss the possibility of an override on June's town election ballot, school committee Chairman Michael Ryan told Town Meeting representatives Monday night (Oct. 16.)

While not stating an override dollar amount, Ryan estimated that given the same 4 percent budget increase by the town as this year, the schools would fall $1.7 million short of maintaining current services in 2007-08.

In the spring of this year, selectmen took no action on the schools' request for a smaller override.

"The quality of public education in Walpole has eroded significantly because of inadequate budget," Ryan told Town Meeting. The hope is to reverse the erosion by action next spring, he said.

Ryan focused on increasing class size to illustrate erosion. At the high school, where enrollment has grown by 5 percent this year alone, there are the same number of math sections -- 45 -- as there were in 2003, he said. Of those sections, 45 percent now exceed the guideline of no more than 25 students in a class, he said.

In science, 39 percent of WHS sections have more than 25 students, he said.

In the elementary schools, 18 classrooms are above the guidelines of 22 pupils in kindergarten through Grade 2 and 25 in the higher grades. In the middle schools, 52 classes exceed the size guidelines, he said.

Ryan noted that pairing elementary schools -- two for the lower grades, two for the upper -- is under consideration as a way to address class size issues. He acknowledged the idea is controversial, but said that class size growth has to be dealt with by available resources.

Walpole's students consistently score in the top 25 percent on standardized tests. And the revenue shortage is "somewhat masked" by significant parental involvement, including payment of a "very disturbing" amount of fees, he said.

He noted that with $1.7 million in addition to a 4 percent increase for 2007-08, the schools would be offering what's provided under this year's "deficient" budget.

Two other town officials presented brief reports at the start of Town Meeting that have a bearing on next year.

William Ryan, chairman of the committee that's working to come up with a plan for new police and fire facilities, said he will present a report at the May Town Meeting. In the June 2006 town election, voters turned down an override for a new police station on Robbins Road.

Finance Committee Chairman Thomas Jalkut said that while Town Meeting had money available to appropriate Monday night, "I assure you that these good times are transitory and to some extent, illusional."

Much of the money available for appropriation comes from extra state aid and savings from "severe" budget cuts last spring.

Walpole and most other towns in the state are dealing with a structural deficit -- costs are growing faster than revenues, he said, pointing to the growth in health insurance bills for town employees and retirees as a big example.

The town is looking at a projected deficit in its overall budget next year of just over $1 million, Jalkut said.


-- Tom Glynn

[Tom]

Tax break approved for Bayer expansion

Town Meeting Monday night (Oct. 16) approved a property tax break for a $110 million expansion of the Bayer Diagnostics facility on Coney Street.

Under the TIF (tax increment financing) agreement, the town will forego 10 percent of the property taxes otherwise due on the new construction for 10 years.

Selectman Al DeNapoli told the Town Meeting representatives Monday night that tax bill for the new space would normally amount to $250,000 or so a year. Under the TIF agreement, Bayer will save about $25,000 a year of that based on the estimate from DeNapoli, who chaired the town panel that negotiated with the company during the summer.

As part of the agreement, Bayer will encourage Walpole applicants for employment, including for the 70 new jobs the expansion is to create. Bayer is already the town's largest single taxpayer; its bill for this year will be $490,000. Of its 510 employees, 49 live in Walpole.

The company has agreed to make a $40,000 donation to the town and explain to other companies what Walpole has to offer. The TIF agreement also could be an incentive for further development of the 80-acre site.

According to Bayer and town officials, a sale of Bayer Diagnostics to Siemens now being discussed would not affect the TIF agreement, which runs with the land.

The TIF agreement makes Bayer eligible for a 2 percent state income tax credit. As required to meet state law, Town Meeting's vote Monday night also designated the Bayer site as an "economic opportunity area," a designation that involves a finding that the area is "blighted."

Town Counsel Joyce Frank Told Town Meeting representatives that the state considers a site blighted if it is difficult to develop. The Coney Street site meets that definition, according to Bayer, because the expansion project requires extensive and expensive flood prevention and drainage work.


-- Tom Glynn

[Tom]

Town Meeting wraps up in one night

Saying yes to more money for the East Walpole public works project and no for now to an erosion control bylaw, Fall Town Meeting wrapped up its business in one session Monday night.

The representatives voted to add $570,000 to fund the full scope of the East Walpole Public Works Economic Development project that originally was to be paid for entirely through a $1 million state grant. The new money, mostly from the town's share of state highway funds for local roads, will go to cover higher costs, most of which town officials attribute to the years it took to get the project out to bid.

The biggest piece of the work will be the elimination of the rise and dip built into Washington Street to accommodate a railroad trestle. The configuration limits visibility for motorists and pedestrians.

Town Meeting approved $10,000 to study flooding on Norfolk Street near Rolls-Royce after Town Administrator Michael Boynton promised the money would not be spent until town officials walked the area to see if a cause could be identified. The promise was exacted by Edward Forsberg of the capital outlay committee.

Boynton said there's been major flooding there for the past four years, but added that talk about a cause is speculative, an apparent reference to statements on Town Meeting floor that a downstream condominium complex might have something to do with the problem. But if it turns out the cause is on private property, the $10,000 study is a necessary step if legal action is needed, he said.

Town Meeting appropriated $250,000, the increase in this year's prison mitigation money from the state, to replace a broken culvert that's closed Plimpton Street to through traffic.

Town Meeting approved one and turned down the other of two articles submitted by the Conservation Commission to comply with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirement to have rules in place by 2008 to further protect surface and groundwater. The TM representatives backed the article banning illicit discharges into the town's storm drains, but voted against the companion measure aimed at stormwater and erosion problems from construction and other work.

TM reps said vague wording in the proposed bylaw could lead to homeowners falling subject to extensive and expensive requirements intended to apply to bigger projects.

As requested by the finance committee and selectmen, Town Meeting sent back a request from the town's Superfund Committee to create a redevelopment authority to speed the clean-up and reuse of the South Street Superfund site. The proposal has potential, FinCom Chairman Thomas Jalkut said, but there are many questions about a redevelopment authority that would have eminent domain power.

Without discussion, Town Meeting approved a bylaw that requires motels to have an operating permit from selectmen.

To correct an oversight, Town Meeting amended the zoning bylaw to allow age-qualified villages in the highway business zone, clearing the way for an AQV on land off Route 1 and Pine Street.