Highlights of Night Two of the Wrentham Town Meeting

After adjourning the previous night, the Wrentham annual town meeting wrapped up Tuesday evening at KP High School. Only needing about an hour to go through the final warrants, there was little debate and substantially less people in attendance for night two of the meeting.

Both Article 13 and 14 were postponed indefinitely. Article 13 would transferred a sum of money from the Water Enterprise Retained Earnings Reserve for Capital to the Water Enterprise Operating Budget Capital while Article 14 would of transferred available funds to the stabilization fund.

Article 15 was passed by a voice vote to raise and appropriate funds for requested items. The list included $250,000 for an ambulance, $11,628 for new election equipment, and $20,000 to replace the Recreation Department’s pickup truck.

Article 16 to change the zoning bylaws for parking was approved unanimously. The article does away with the old way of measuring parking needs and replaces it with a method based on square footage. The previous method linked parking to employment.

Passed unanimously, Article 17 updates the Floodplain Bylaw. The flood hazard maps will be updated for the first time since 1982 and allows Wrentham to remain eligible for the National Flood Insurance Program. The Planning Board voted in favor of the article at their June 11 meeting.

Article 18, passed unanimously, updates height and grade plain definitions for buildings. According to the article, the height of a building cannot exceed 60 feet above the grade plane surrounding the exterior walls.

Article 19 was declared unanimous. There may now be planned business development in zones C-1 and C-2. The Planning Board voted in favor of the article at their June 11 meeting.

Voters approved by a voice voice, Article 20 which accept Section 20 of Chapter 32B of the General laws and establishes an Other Post-Employment Benefit Trust Fund and further to appropriate from available funds in the Treasury an amount to be credited to such fund.

Article 21 was postponed indefinitely. The article deal with land located at 775 South Street and identified at Parcel K-06-4-9-0-E by the Wrentham Board of Assessors. The postponement was requested because of nothing being in place to assess the costs of removing materials from the land. 

Article 22 to authorize the selectmen to petition the legislature to enable legislation to establish a district to operate a regional public safety communications and dispatch center was passed with a voice vote.

Article 23 which states that warrant articles that contain a proposed amendment shall be first moved by a member of the General Bylaws Review Committee, was passed with a voice vote.

Article 24 was passed with a voice vote. The article amends Section One, Paragraph C of Article 2, Committees of General Bylaws. Now any person appointed by the board of selectmen or the moderator to serve on a town committee, board, or commission must be sworn in within 60 days of the appointment.

Article 25 was approved with a voice vote. The article modifies Section 14 of Article Two, Committees, of the General Bylaw which now states that the General By-law Review Committee shall review all proposed amendments to the General By-laws which are included in a warrant article that is to be considered at any town meeting. The committee will report its findings and recommendations at the meeting.

Article 26 was the only article to require an actual count. It was passed by a 25-19 vote. The article calls for a public meeting when any elected board or elected official is adjusting any fees.

Article 27 to increase the size of the numbers on building was approved by a voice vote. House numbers must be at least three-inches large. Houses not seen from the road may post the numbers on a mailbox. The article does not apply to current houses as they will be grandfathered in.

The final article of the evening, Article 28, was also passed with a voice vote. The article deletes Article 12 of the police regulations and consolidate Articles Five, Nine, 15, 30, and 31 in its place.

The next town meeting will be Nov. 11.