Friday, November 30, 2012
Welcome to "About Town with Mark Snyder," a column that will keep you up to the minute with what's what, who's who and what's going on around town. If you see or hear something we could use here, let us know by sending an e-mail to pmpco@aol.com.
CHIEF SHASTANY IS BACK: Next Step - Hiring a Deputy Chief for the Stoughton Police Department. Stoughton Police Chief Paul Shastany has had a tough few months. He underwent surgery on his back on August 21, and has had a slow, painful recovery. He'll be returning to full-time duty on Monday, December 3, and will start the process of filling the position of Deputy Police Chief. The last Town Meeting overwhelmingly voted to create the position of Deputy Police Chief, at the recommendation of Chief Shastany. Since then, the State Legislature and Governor Deval Patrick have signed off, and now the position is officially approved and waiting to be filled. When asked about the process, Shastany told About Town that only internal candidates from…
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Welcome to "About Town with Mark Snyder," a column that will keep you up to the minute with what's what, who's who and what's going on around town. If you see or hear something we could use here, let us know by sending an e-mail to pmpco@aol.com.
WHO CAME AND WHO DIDN'T AT THE 2012 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING: Town Clerk Cheryl Mooney released the official attendance records for the 2012 Annual Town Meeting. Perfect attendance should be saluted, and it will be here. But, poor attendance should also be noted. Whether someone was sick, or just wasn't able to make it for various reasons, isn't known, unless the voters want to ask their elected town reps. But, About Town puts the information out to you, and you can take it from what it is - an attendance record. Town Meeting started with an organizational meeting on May 3 and held the first official session on May 7. Town Meeting went nine sessions in 2012, ending on June 13. Attendance was recorded for a total of 10 sessions, including the …
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Welcome to "About Town with Mark Snyder," a column that will keep you up to the minute with what's what, who's who and what's going on around town. If you see or hear something we could use here, let us know by sending an e-mail to pmpco@aol.com.
IT'S OVER! IT'S FINALLY OVER! Yes, nine was the lucky number for the 100 town meeting members who came to the Annual Town Meeting on June 13. After nine sessions, the 2012 Annual Town Meeting (finally) ended. I believe the most important thing accomplished by the 2012 Annual Town Meeting was the more than THREE MILLION DOLLARS that was added to the Town's Stabilization fund, in the middle of a deep recession. The town added a number of positions in the school and municipal sides, had no layoffs, and banked over $3 million. Now, THAT'S an accomplishment! Outgoing Finance Committee Chair Holly Boykin said the $3,007,528 added to the fund ($2,421,463 from free cash and $586,065 from the tax levy) brings it up to a grand total of $4,649,292. …
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Welcome to "About Town with Mark Snyder," a column that will keep you up to the minute with what's what, who's who and what's going on around town. If you see or hear something we could use here, let us know by sending an e-mail to pmpco@aol.com.
TOWN MEETING NIGHT EIGHT: Town Meeting members plowed through half of the remaining warrant articles on Monday, June 11, 2012. Sixteen articles remain for Wednesday, June 13, which hopefully will be the ninth - and last - night of Stoughton's 2012 Annual Town Meeting. One-hundred and nine (109) members came for a meeting which was called for 7:30 p.m., and started at 7:45. Due to presentations, and a message regarding the open meeting laws from Moderator Howard Hansen, members didn't begin working on their first article of the night until 8:10 p.m. The final article discussed on Monday may have had the most impact on the future development of one end of town, and provoked passion on both sides of the argument. Article 61 would have …
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Welcome to "About Town with Mark Snyder," a column that will keep you up to the minute with what's what, who's who and what's going on around town. If you see or hear something we could use here, let us know by sending an e-mail to pmpco@aol.com.
TOWN MEETING, SESSION 7 RECAP: It was Night Seven of Town Meeting and the pressure was on. FIFTY articles remained after the first six nights of Town Meeting, and members were getting frustrated. Well, on Wednesday night, the 106 Town Meeting members present at the start of the meeting hit the gas. They ended up handling nearly a couple dozen articles and leaving the air-conditioned Stoughton High auditorium feeling a little bit better about what they were accomplishing. An article to purchase a diesel generator for the Stoughton Senior Center on Rockland Street was the first article discussed. Fire Chief Mark Dolloff, in his role as the head of the Emergency Management team for the Town, cited the need for preparedness after the loss of…
Twenty-two articles were discussed at the seventh session of Stoughton's Annual Town Meeting on May 30.
They didn't generate much - or any - discussion on the Town Meeting floor, but they were some of the more noteworthy of the 22 articles discussed at the seventh session of Stoughton's 2012 Annual Town Meeting, Wednesday night at Stoughton High. Town Meeting members passed articles to improve the fleet of vehicles for the Police and Fire Departments; replace bullet resistant vests for the police; and replace the windows at the Hansen Elementary School. Town Meeting unanimously passed a request from Police Chief Paul Shastany to replace three cruisers and two SUVs at the cost of $204,438. A year after voting down an article to fund the replacement of the Fire Department's ambulance #3, Town Meeting supported the $250,000 borrowing request …
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Welcome to "About Town with Mark Snyder," a column that will keep you up to the minute with what's what, who's who and what's going on around town. If you see or hear something we could use here, let us know by sending an e-mail to pmpco@aol.com.
TOWN MEETING, SESSION 6 RECAP: The suggestion from Stoughton Town Assessor Joseph Gibbons seemed easy to understand. In Article 82, which increased the property tax exemption for many senior citizens in Stoughton, Gibbons said simply, "It's a no-brainer." The proposal adjusted the property tax factors to allow more seniors in Stoughton to get a $500 property tax exemption. That's $500 more in the pockets of many more seniors. The law originally allowed seniors over 70, with VERY limited income, to collect. Gibbons article decreased the age to 65, and allowed income limits to increase to $20,000 for singles, and $30,000 for couples, and allowed assets increased to $40,000 for singles, and $55,000 for couples, not including homes or …
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Session five of town meeting also approved a series of articles providing tax relief to those service men and women stationed abroad. Town Meeting continues with session six on May 23.
In a move supporters of the article said would cost a little more up front, but save the town money over the long haul, Town Meeting members voted unanimously Monday night at the fifth session of the 2012 Annual Town Meeting to install a slate roof on the historic Stoughton Town Hall. To do this, Town Meeting approved the borrowing of up to $150,000 under the Community Preservation Program. Town Engineer Ben Feehan explained that there is about $330,000 of available funds for the repair of the Town Hall roof. This is enough if the town wanted to use an asphalt surface, as is currently the case, but would need to approve the additional funding to cover the costs of a slate roof, which is around $380,000. Town Meeting member John Morton, …
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Welcome to "About Town with Mark Snyder," a column that will keep you up to the minute with what's what, who's who and what's going on around town. If you see or hear something we could use here, let us know by sending an e-mail to pmpco@aol.com.
MILLION DOLLAR SCHOOL FEASIBILITY STUDY PASSED: School Committee member Deborah Sovinee was beaming as members left Stoughton High May 16 from Town Meeting Night Four, with the article for a Feasibility Study for Stoughton High School passing by an overwhelming margin. Sovinee had really taken the lead on trying to do something about the deteriorating condition of Stoughton High School. After the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) had put Stoughton High on "Warning Notice" status due, in part, to the many deficiencies in the physical plant, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marguerite Rizzi, and the School Committee were determined to renovate or replace the high school. It's a VERY long road until the day when a new …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Welcome to "About Town with Mark Snyder," a column that will keep you up to the minute with what's what, who's who and what's going on around town. If you see or hear something we could use here, let us know by sending an e-mail to pmpco@aol.com.
THOUGHTS ABOUT A NEW HIGH SCHOOL: Article 66 is asking for Town Meeting to borrow up to $1 million for a feasibility study to look at the potential renovation or replacement of SHS. There's no doubt that high school needs a radical repair job or total replacement. It seems that the myriad of problems - many involving the health of teachers, staff and students - is beyond a simple repair job. It is estimated that it could cost 15-20 million dollars for repairs to the building. But, there are SO many problems - particularly the mold, mildew, asbestos, and water problems - that would really require that portions of the building would need to be torn down. And, like repairing an old car, it might run, but it would not be the most modern …
Scott M
5:05 pm on Thursday, May 17, 2012
Seriously, at some point you HAVE to invest in the town. When is the time right? When every building has collapsed from years of neglect? We might as well get it done now, it's never going to get cheaper. more ›