If the mood of Annual Town Meeting is a reflection of the mood of the town, as I believe, then it is fair to say that Truro’s voters are feeling remarkably upbeat.
For the 250 people who filled the Truro Community Center on April 26th, the one night meeting had several modest surprises, but no great shocks. All but one of the financial articles passed without dispute; the energy committee’s four articles in support of “green community” status sailed to near unanimous approval, and the attempt to repeal Truro’s local conservation bylaw was crushed.
The only heated debate was over the three different articles proposing zoning limitations on house size, all of which failed to win the necessary 2/3 approval, guaranteeing that the issue will remain a contentious one -- and will reappear on the warrant for next year’s annual town meeting.
Town Moderator Monica Kraft called the meeting to order at 7:05, and jumped right to money matters, starting with the Fiscal Year 2012 $15.5 million operating budget. The discussion was brief, the shortest budget deliberation in memory, as voters unanimously approved the full spending package without debate after a 10 minute review.
Credit for that quick approval went to the Board of Selectmen and the Town Administrator, who started working in November to come as close as possible to a level funding budget. As a result, while most of our neighboring towns were forced to ask for overrides this year, Truro’s budget increase was a modest $30,000 over FY11 spending, even with insurance and benefit costs rising over 10% and energy costs soaring.
Other spending measures passed with equal ease. Voters agreed to spend $225,000 in Community Preservation Act money to buy land for a house for a working family, and to permit spending of $250,000 in Community Preservation Act money if necessary to ensure construction of the 16 long-planned affordable rental units at Sally's Way. Another $125,000 in available cash was approved to begin developing a comprehensive wastewater management plan, as mandated by federal law, while a temporary $325,000 property tax increase was approved to fund repairs to the south jetty at Pamet Harbor.
The “feel good” moments of the night came with the nearly unanimous passage of all four warant articles sponsored by the energy committee in hopes of positioning the town as a “green community.” Voters approved zoning articles necessary to allow construction of a solar panel farm on a 5-acre capped landfill, a farm that Energy Committee Chair Brian Boyle said could ultimately generate enough electricity to power all the town buildings. Voters also adopted amendments to building regulations to encourage energy-efficient construction for new homes and additions.
Many had predicted that the new more rigorous “stretch” building regulations would be a hard sell to the town. But they passed almost without objection, thanks to the months of work that the Energy Committee had spent discussing the issue throughout the community, including meeting with virtually every committee and board in town as well as the majority of the builders and realtors who would be impacted.
Town meeting's response to the citizen’s petition to repeal Truro’s Conservation Bylaw, passed just last year, was equally emphatic. Although the Conservation Commission remains controversial, only two voters were willing to see the Commission’s powers limited by the repeal of our local regulation.
Only the issue of limitations on house size occasioned serious debate, just as it has for the last six years. Three different warrant articles were brought forward, one by the planning board and two by citizen petition -- and all three were soundly rejected. Voters defeated the planning board's zoning article, which was based on the combination of lot size and the footprint of roofed buildings on a lot. Voters also turned down a petitioned article that set limits on areas within habitable buildings, including multiple stories in a house, given lot size.
The story was the same as it has been for similar zoning articles for the past five years. Some found the articles too restrictive. Others found them too lax. Still others found them too confusing. The only certainty at the end of the debate was that the issue was certain to return at next year’s town meeting.
Still, the mood was almost as cheerful at the end of the meeting as it had been at the beginning -- thanks, in large part, to the rapid pace of action, which guaranteed the meeting would adjourn shortly after 11pm.
Sincerely,
Curtis Hartman
Chair, Board of Selectmen
eMail Curtis
(508) 349-7004