Winchester voters send town, school warrants to the ballot - but not without debate

The four-hour meeting inside the Winchester School gymnasium is the second time these sessions were held back-to-back, with last year’s believed to be the first.

Voters will head to the gym again on March 14, when polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., to cast their final ballots.

Town budget

The town kicked off its deliberative session at 9 a.m., with 43 articles on the warrant.

The town’s proposed $4.3 million operating budget was amended to include an additional $10,000 for the town library. The new budget of $4,404,127 — up 13.7 percent, or $533,138 from the current year — was passed. If this fails, the default budget of $4,150,895 would go into effect.

While most of the remaining articles passed as written without discussion, a select few were heavy with input.

One article asked if the town would raise $10,000 to be placed in the existing non-lapsing Beach Ramp Capital Reserve Fund for the purpose of installing a ramp at the town beach.

A number of residents voiced their support, which has been a recurring warrant article for the past few years.

“I think this is an article that is long overdue,” said resident Joanne Devost. “We should do everything we can so that everyone — those who are in a wheelchair or otherwise need this ramp — can enjoy our beach.”

Selectboard member Theresa Sepe abstained from the measure, citing concerns that the town reserve still wouldn’t have enough funds to move forward with building the ramp.

“$10,000 just isn’t gonna do it,” Sepe said. “The funds, they’re not there yet.”

The article asking for the money was moved to the polls.

Another article asked if the town would raise $4,000 for livestreaming and video recording of public board and committee meetings. The intent, the article says, would be to hire a company to manage the service in order to provide transparency and accountability to citizens and taxpayers.

Chairwoman Lindseigh Picard said that the $4,000 was an estimate based on quotes the town received based on the type of services they were interested in hiring, and the town would return any unused funds.

“It’s clear that the town is currently benefiting from this,” Picard said. “And it’s become, frankly, a burden to continue to rely on volunteers to provide this.”

While those who spoke about the issue generally said that it was a good idea for improving accessibility, many expressed concerns about why additional funds were needed.

“Just last year we voted to purchase the equipment we now have,” said resident Kelly Kilanski. “I think it’s a waste of our money to bring in a service, when we have the local volunteers for it.”

Selectboard member Natalie Quevedo clarified that she is the sole volunteer managing the equipment, and that the original intent of the article from last year was to initially hire a service. However, the selectboard last year determined that buying equipment would be the more appropriate move. This prompted further discussion.

“I fully support this article,” said Miriam “Mim” Johnson, who is a trustee of the town trust fund and serves on the board of the town conservation commission. “Our elected officials should be doing elected duties, not maintenance of technology.”

Resident Todd Kilanski filed an amendment that would reduce the funds to $1 from the proposed $4,000. He explained that the public needs a specific breakdown from the selectboard as to how much money would exactly be spent.

“I kept it at a dollar, so that the board can go back and state exactly how this money is going to be spent,” Kilanski said. ”Right now it’s just a range. I think the public deserves more specifics.”

Ultimately, the amendment failed and the article was sent to the ballot as written.

The final portion of the town deliberative session involved lively discussion regarding warrant articles not recommended by the planning board but were inserted by petition. Articles 39 through 40 ask voters to amend the language in the Winchester Zoning Ordinance for the Aquifer Protection District, which was adopted in 2004, and Article 41 asks voters to repeal the Aquifer Protection District entirely.

Members of the town conservation commission voiced their concerns that the articles would allow developers to increase the density of housing near aquifers, which they said could lead to a higher chance of contaminated water. These articles were passed on to the ballot.

Other articles moved to the ballot included the town allocating $40,000 to support yearlong youth activities with ACCESS; authorizing the selectboard to enter into a five-year lease-to-purchase agreement for a 2024 Freightliner M2106 dump truck, for a total cost of $191,493; and $60,000 for the E.L.M. Memorial Community Center.

Several articles allocated money for capital reserve funds, such as $3,000 for the purchase and repair of an electronic balloting device; $10,000 for town-owned building upgrades; $50,000 for the purchase of an ambulance; and $20,000 for updates to the police fleet, specifically the purchase of a police cruiser.

School budget

Following the town deliberative session, the school district began its own at 12:15 p.m.

The district’s $13,089,941 budget proposal — up $422,071, or 3.3 percent, from the $12.7 million budget voters approved last year — passed to the ballot. If voters reject the budget at the polls, a default budget of $13,250,829 would take effect.

Picard, the school board vice chair, thanked the efforts of the budget committee and school board on working together on this year’s operating budget, and it aligned with their ongoing commitment to support the students and needs of the district.

Voters also gave the green light to an article that would enter the district into a two-year collective bargaining agreement with the Winchester Teachers’ Association. The contract would include wage and benefit increases estimated at $74,592 in 2023-24 and $72,937 for the following year.

The article that drew the most discussion Saturday asked if voters would raise $5,200, plus required taxes of $398, to fund stipends for school board members.

School Committee Chairwoman Lindsey Hildreth filed an amendment to the article, which added language clarifying how much school board members would be paid for the fiscal year. The amendment states that school board members would receive $1,000 each, and the chair and vice-chair of the board would receive $1,200.

Stipends for school board members were cut from the budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, according to Hildreth.

A motion was made for discussion of the amendment. Sepe stated that this type of article comes up every year, and voiced her reasoning as to why she supported it.

“It is not an easy position, spending a year in this role,” Sepe said. “The least we can do is pay them for their time. I think if you don’t want it, you don’t need the money, then donate it. Put it back into the community with programs like Toys for Tots or the community center.”

People against the article argued that the board should let its constituents propose articles concerning compensation of its board.

“I really feel it’s unethical for the school board to bring this forward, instead of a resident,“ said resident Nathan Holmy, who served on the budget committee last year. “I really feel like the board should abstain from this vote.”

The amendment to the article passed, and the amended article will move on to the polls.

Other articles passed on to the ballot include raising $25,000 for the district’s special education expendable trust fund and allocating $125,000 for the building improvements capital reserve fund.