To hear the Chair of the Select Board review important events in the past year in Arlington and preview expectations for next year.

(Inserted at the request of the Town Moderator)

To choose and appoint all the usual Town Officers not hereinbefore mentioned, in such a manner as the Town may determine; or take any action related thereto.

To elect a Town Meeting Member as Assistant Moderator for a term of one year, as provided in Title I, Article 1, Section 11.A, of the Bylaws; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Town Moderator)

To see if the Town will vote to Amend Title V – Regulations Upon the use of Private Property, Article 5 SELF SERVICE GAS DISPENSING, by deleting Article 5 in its entirety and substituting in its place the following:

Article 5 Self-service petroleum filling station regulations.

Section 1. The dispensing of motor fuel by means of self-service automated dispensing systems shall be permitted at any authorized filling station, so long as there is at least one full-service attendant employee dispensing system available at said station. All installations shall comply with the regulations promulgated by the Board of Fire Prevention Regulations in the Commonwealth.

Section 2. Each self-service automated dispensing system shall display a clear warning label explaining that burning gasoline, diesel and ethanol has major consequences on human health and on the environment, including contributing to climate change.;

or take any action related thereto.

To see if the Town will vote to amend the Town Bylaws to establish a new bylaw in Title V Regulations Upon the Use of Private Property to require property owners to disclose information about public parking availability on adjacent streets to potential renters or buyers prior to entering into any lease or sale agreement, including setting forth penalties; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of Steve Berczuk and ten registered voters)

(Inserted at the request of Mark Kaepplein and ten registered voters)

To see if the Town will vote to strike or amend Title I Article 1, Section 4. B. (“Stenographic Record”) to remove the requirement to generate a stenographic record of the proceedings of Town Meeting; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Town Clerk and Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote to amend Title VI, Article 3 of the Bylaws of the Town of Arlington, entitled “Building Code,” to adopt the Municipal Opt-In Specialized Stretch Energy Code for the purpose of regulating the design and construction of buildings for the effective use of energy and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, pursuant to the entirety of 225 CMR 22 and 23 including Appendices RC and CC, including future editions, amendments or modifications thereto; or take any other action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Town Manager and Clean Energy Future Committee)

To see if the Town will vote to establish a study group to evaluation current civic participation practices in Arlington, best practices in other communities, and findings of the Community Equity Audit, and to develop strategies that will remove barriers and encourage residents to volunteer and/or run for elected office.  The goal of this study group would be to make recommendations to the Select Board, Town Manager, Town Meeting, Town Appointing bodies and the School Committee on topics that include, but are not limited to:

·         Existing barriers to civic engagement;

·         Volunteer/candidate development, including recruitment, training, and retention;

·         Standardized recruitment and appointment practices that prioritize diversity and inclusion;

·         The pros and cons of term limits;

·         Best practices for advertising open positions;

·         Specific policy and bylaw changes needed to achieve and identified improvements

at the next Annual Town Meeting; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of Elizabeth Dray and ten registered voters)

To see if the Town will vote to adopt a moratorium by bylaw or otherwise, on the construction or installation of any artificial or synthetic turf on any land owned by the Town for a three-year period beginning on May 1, 2023 and ending on May 1, 2026 to allow futher study of the cost effectiveness, safety, environmental impact; and further to establish a study group to conduct such study, and set forth the membership of same; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of Beth Melofchik and ten registered voters)

To see if the Town will vote to convert the office of Town Clerk from an elected to an appointed position through ballot question or referendum pursuant G.L. c. 41 §1B, home rule legislation, or other suitable method; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

VOTE/STRATEGIC PLAN FOR NEW GROWTH

To see if the Town will vote to create a study group, composed of staff and other appointed residents, for the purposes of developing a strategic plan to increase new growth; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of Lenard Diggins and ten registered voters)

VOTE/BOARD OF YOUTH SERVICES UPDATES

To see if the Town will vote to amend or disband the Board of Youth Services’ organization, name, mission, and terms, including, but not limited to, changing its name, removing residency restrictions for members and updating board operations; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of Board of Youth Services)

To see if the Town will vote to authorize and request the Select Board to file Special Legislation to amend the Sections 11 and/or 12 of the Town Manager Act to revise the appointment term of the Town Manager, a Temporary Manager or Manager for Unexpired Term in the event of a vacancy; or take any other action relative thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Select Board)

To see if the Town will vote to authorize and request the Select Board to petition the Massachusetts General Court to allow the Town to satisfy requirements for legal notices set forth in the general laws by allowing the publication of notices on the Town’s website and/or in a local digital newspaper, along with the option of continuing the current practice of publication in a newspaper of general circulation; or take any action relative thereto.

(Inserted at the request of Larry Slotnick and ten registered voters)

To see if the Town will vote to waive the age restriction of 32 years old to apply and become an Arlington Police Officer; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of James M. Looney and ten registered voters)

SPECIAL LEGISLATION/REPEAL MBTA PROHIBITION

To see if the Town will vote to authorize and request the Select Board to file Home Rule Legislation or other Special Legislation to repeal Chapter 439 of the Acts of 1976 “An Act Prohibiting the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for locating a mass transportation facility within a certain distance of the Arlington Catholic High School,” or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of Paul Schlichtman and ten registered voters)

To see if the Town will vote accept G.L. c. 32B sec. 20 as amended by Chapter 218, Section 15 of the Acts of 2016, and further establish or amend its Other Post-Employment Benefits Liability Trust Fund and affirm the custodian and trustees of such funds; or take any action related thereto.

 (Inserted by at the Request of the Arlington Contributory Retirement Board)

TRANSFER OF PROPERTY/23 MAPLE STREET

To see if the Town will vote to transfer property located at 23 Maple Street, Arlington MA 02476 from the jurisdiction of the Redevelopment Board to the jurisdiction of the Town Manager; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote to transfer property located at 20 Academy Street, Arlington MA 02476, also known as the “Central School Building” from the jurisdiction of the Redevelopment Board to the jurisdiction of the Town Manager; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote to transfer property located at 611 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington MA 02476, also known as the “Jefferson Cutter House” from the jurisdiction of the Redevelopment Board to the jurisdiction of the Town Manager; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote to endorse the application for Federal Fiscal Year 2023 prepared by the Town Manager and Select Board under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (PL 93-383) as amended; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted by the Select Board and at the request of the Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote to hear or receive a report concerning the receipts and expenditures of approved revolving funds, amend the Town Bylaws to adopt new revolving funds, and/or to appropriate sums of money to such revolving funds and determine how the money shall be raised or expended; or take any action related thereto.

 (Inserted by the Select Board)

To see if the Town will vote to amend the Zoning Bylaw to update Section 5.6.2 DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS to establish the design storm or other criteria that must be met for stormwater retention and treatment to receive an exception to maximum height regulations in the Industrial District; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Redevelopment Board)

To see if the Town will vote to amend the Zoning Bylaw to update Section 5.6.2 DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS to reflect the inclusion of Section 6.4 SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Redevelopment Board)

(Inserted at the request of the Redevelopment Board)

To see if the Town will vote to complete removal of minimum parking requirements for all non-residential uses in the B-5 District, or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of James Fleming and ten registered voters)

To see if the Town will vote to complete removal of the Usable Open Space requirements for one and two-family uses; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of James Fleming and ten registered voters)

To see if the Town will vote to amend the Zoning Bylaw to update Section 5.6.3 USE REGULATONS FOR MU, PUD, I, T, and OS DISTRICTS, to allow animal daycare; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of Kristin Anderson and ten registered voters)

To see if the Town will vote to amend the Zoning Bylaw so developments of 100% affordable housing may be built by right in all zones, with lower requirements as well; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of Thomas J. Perkins and ten registered voters)

To see if the Town will vote to endorse the Parking Benefit District operating and capital expenditures for Fiscal Year 2023 prepared by the Town Manager and the Select Board consistent with the Town Bylaws; or take any action related thereto.

 (Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate or transfer a sum or sums of money for the support of public, educational, and/or governmental (“PEG”) access cable television services, said sum or sums to be provided for by the cable franchise agreements and cable licensing fees, detailed in an operational cost, building expenses, and capital expense budget, and expended under the direction of the Town Manager; or take any action related thereto.

 (Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote to make additions, deletions and/or modifications to the Classification and Pay Plan, appropriate a sum of money to fund same if necessary, determine how the money will be raised and expended; or take any action related thereto.

 (Inserted at the request of the Town Manager and the Director of Human Resources)

To see if the Town will vote to fund any fiscal items in the event that any are contained in collective bargaining agreements between the Town and the following named collective bargaining units, and to fund for non-union, M Schedule, and elected officials’ salaries or fringe benefits, determine how the money shall be raised and expended; or take any action related thereto:

A.                 Service Employees International Union;

B.                 Arlington Police Patrol Officers’ Association (formerly Arlington Patrolmen’s Association);

C.                 Arlington Ranking Police Officers’ Association; and

D.                 Full-time elected officials

 (Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote to make appropriations to defray Town obligations, liabilities, outlay and expenses and especially for or relating to all or any of the boards, departments, purposes and matters hereinafter mentioned, and to provide for the disposal of motor vehicles and other personal property belonging to the Town, determine how the money shall be raised and expended; or take any action related thereto: Finance Committee, Select Board, Town Manager, Human Resources, Comptroller, Information Technology, Town Treasurer and Collector of Taxes, Assessors, Legal and Workers’ Compensation, Town Clerk, Registrars, Planning and Community Development, Redevelopment Board, Parking, Zoning Board of Appeals, Public Works, Facilities, Cemeteries, Community Safety, School Department, Libraries, Human Services, Insurance, Non-Contributory Pensions, Contributory Pensions, Elections, Town Debt and Interest, Reserve Fund, and/or any other Town Departments, Boards, Commissions or Committees, Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund, Recreation Enterprise Fund, Council on Aging Transportation Enterprise Fund, Veterans’ Memorial Rink Enterprise Fund, and Youth Services Enterprise Fund.

 (Inserted by the Select Board and at the request of the Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money to defray the expense of purchasing, leasing, or bonding of capital equipment, infrastructure, buildings or other projects of the Town or to acquire real property for municipal purposes; to appropriate a sum of money to fund previously incurred or future Town debt, to acquire land for said projects where necessary by purchase, eminent domain taking or otherwise, determine how the money shall be raised including the possibility of borrowing any or all of the same, or the transfer of funds from any previous appropriation, determine how such money shall be expended; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted by the Select Board and at the request of the

Town Manager and the Capital Planning Committee)

 (Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

 (Inserted at the request of the Town Treasurer)

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money received by the Town from the Commonwealth Transportation Infrastructure Fund to address the impact of transportation network services on municipal roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure or any other public purpose substantially related to the operation of transportation network services in the Town including, but not limited to, the Complete Streets Program, accepted by Town Meeting on May 4, 2015, established in Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90I, Section 1 and other programs that support alternative modes of transportation; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for the purpose of financing the construction or reconstruction of sewers and sewerage facilities for inflow/infiltration reduction or system rehabilitation, including costs incidental and related thereto, and to determine how the appropriation shall be raised or expended, including the possibility of borrowing all or some of same; or take any action related thereto.

 (Inserted at the request of the Town Manager and the Director of Public Works)

APPROPRIATION/FINANCING OF CONSTRUCTION OR RECONSTRUCTION OF WATER MAINS AND WATER FACILITIES

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for the purpose of financing the construction or reconstruction of water mains and water facilities, including costs incidental and related thereto, and to determine how the appropriation shall be raised and expended including the possibility of borrowing all or some of same; or take any action related thereto.

 (Inserted at the request of the Town Manager and the Director of Public Works)

 (Inserted at the request of Minuteman Regional Vocational School District Committee)

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum or sums of money to be expended under the direction of various committees, commissions, and boards of the Town, determine how the money shall be raised; provided that any funds appropriated hereunder shall remain under the jurisdiction of said entities until expended at their direction, unless otherwise appropriated by the Town Meeting; the entities included hereunder, without limitation, are:  Arlington Historical Commission, Arlington Recycling Committee, Avon Place Historic District Commission, Beautification Committee, Broadway Historic District Commission, Central Street Historic District Commission, Mt. Gilboa/Crescent Hill Historic District Commission, Jason/Gray Historic District Commission, Pleasant Street Historic District Commission, Russell Historic District Commission, Conservation Commission, Capital Planning Committee, Commission on Disability, Human Recourses Board, Public Memorial Committee, Human Rights Commission, Arlington Committee on Tourism and Economic Development, Envision Arlington, Transportation Advisory Committee, Arlington Commission for Arts and Culture, Open Space Committee, and any other Town Committee or Commission; or take any action related thereto.

 (Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum or sums of money to be expended under the direction of the Town Manager for the following celebrations and memorials, determine how the money shall be raised and expended; or take any action related thereto:

            Memorial Day Observation and the Patriots’ Day Celebration

            Display of American Flags on Massachusetts Avenue

            Placing of American Flags on the Graves of Veterans

            Town Day Celebration

            Veterans’ Day Parade

            250^th Anniversary Celebration

 (Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote the following: Legal Defense – To appropriate a sum of money to replenish the Legal Defense Fund established under Article 13, Section 5 of Title 1 of the Town Bylaws, Indemnification of Medical Costs, to appropriate a sum of money in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 41, Section 100B of the General Laws, to indemnify certain retired Police Officers and Firefighters for all reasonable medical and surgical expenses which they incurred, determine how the money will be raised and expended; or take any action related thereto.

 (Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money to the Town’s Water Bodies Fund for the maintenance, treatment, and oversight of all the Town’s water bodies, said sum to be raised by the general tax and expended under the direction of the Town Manager, who will also report to Town Meeting on the status of the fund; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Envision Arlington Standing Committee and its Spy Pond and Reservoir Task Groups, and the Arlington Conservation Commission)

To see if the Town will vote to make appropriations from the Community Preservation Fund for eligible community preservation projects; for community preservation reserve accounts for historic preservation, open space and recreation, and affordable housing; for Community Preservation Act Committee administrative expenses or other eligible expenses; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Community Preservation Act Committee)

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for the Harry Barber Community Service Program for the Council on Aging, to determine how the money will be raised and expended; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Council on Aging)

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money to implement the provisions of Chapter 32 of Massachusetts General Laws Section 90A, 90C, 90D and 90E, pursuant to which the Town pays up to fifty percent of the maximum salary as set forth in the Compensation and Pay Plan for the position formerly held by retired employees with twenty-five or more years of service to the Town and those employees who retired under an Accidental Disability; provided, however, that no one who retires after May 1, 2010 shall be eligible under this vote unless they qualify for at least a fifty percent pension, without this vote upon their retirement; this adjustment to be paid to those who qualify and administered in accordance with prior practice and understanding relating to the retirement allowance of said retirees; determine how the money shall be raised and expended; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Contributory Retirement Board)

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate $148,139.02 received by the Town from the Statewide Opioid Settlements between the Massachusetts Attorney General and non-bankrupt opioid industry participants, for the funding of prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery programs as further detailed in the Massachusetts State Subdivision Agreement for Statewide Opioid Settlements; or act in any other manner in relation thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money to fund a revaluation of the real property in the Town, determine how the money should be raised or expended; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Board of Assessors)

To see if the Town will vote to act by and through the Select Board to take by eminent domain, purchase, or otherwise acquire outright, or acquire permanent easements upon, portions of land in and around the Stratton School area for the purpose of placing sidewalks in connection with the Commonwealth's Safe Routes to School program, to appropriate a sum or sums of money for such acquisitions, determine how the money will be raised and expended, including the possibility of borrowing any of all of it; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Director of Planning and Community Development and the Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote to accept any local option taxes or other revenue raising options, which are made available to cities and towns through enactments of the legislature, by state regulation or court action, or take any action related thereto.

 (Inserted at the request of the Finance Committee)

To see if the Town will vote to subsidize the collection of compost for Arlington eating establishments situated along Massachusetts Avenue with compost collection carried out by the Town or through partnership(s) with private composting organizations; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of Alexandra Lay and ten registered voters)

To see if the Town will vote to accept into the Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) Trust Fund, established by Chapter 161 of the Acts of 2005, an appropriation of funds and/or the transfer of additional monies that the Town may deem advisable from other sources in order to administer and fund its OPEB obligations and administrative costs as described in said Chapter 161 of the Acts of 2005; determine how the monies shall be raised and expended; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Finance Committee)

To see if the Town will vote to transfer a sum of money to the Cemetery Commissioners for the improvement of Town cemeteries, said sum shall be taken from the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery “Sale of Lots and Graves” and/or “Perpetual Care Funds”; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Finance Committee)

To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money from previous years overlay reserve surplus accounts, determine to what purpose this appropriation shall be made; or take any action related thereto.

 (Inserted at the request of the Finance Committee)

To see if the Town will make an appropriation to or from the Fiscal Stability Stabilization Fund created under Article 65 of the 2005 Annual Town Meeting or any other enabling action of Town Meeting in accordance with the provisions of the General Laws, Chapter 40, Section 5B, as amended, or other appropriate provisions of law, determine how the money shall be raised and expended; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Finance Committee)

To see if the Town will make an appropriation to the Long Term Stabilization Fund in accordance with the provisions of the General Laws, Chapter 40, Section 5B, as amended, or other appropriate provisions of law, determine how the money shall be raised and expended; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Finance Committee)

To see if the Town will vote to authorize the taking of a sum of money voted for appropriations heretofore made at the Town Meeting under the Warrant and not voted to be borrowed from available funds in the Treasury, and authorize the Assessors to use free cash in the Treasury to that amount in the determination of the tax rate for the Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2023; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Finance Committee)

To see if the Town will vote, consistent with the Town Manager Act, to affirm the Town Manager’s authorization to file and accept grants from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, and carry out the terms, purposes and conditions of such grants, specifically for the purposes of improving Veteran Memorial Park; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Director of Health and Human Services and the Town Manager)

To see if the Town will vote to resolve to support advocacy by Zero Waste Arlington at the state level in support of Extended Producer Responsibility legislation; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of the Zero Waste Arlington Committee)

To see if the Town will vote to resolve that People have a natural and innate authority over their own body; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of Mark Kaepplein and ten registered voters)

To see if the Town will vote to endorse a resolution calling for improvements to service provided to the Town of Arlington by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of Paul Schlichtman and ten registered voters)

To see if the Town will vote to adopt a resolution affirming affordable housing overlay districts; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of Guillermo Hamlin and ten registered voters)

To see if the Town will vote to extend in-state tuition and state financial aid to all local high school graduates; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of Guillermo Hamlin and ten registered voters

To see if the Town will vote a Resolution in Support of Changing the State Flag & Seal of Massachusetts:

WHEREAS the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is replete with instances of conflict between European Colonists and the Native Nations of the region, who first extended the hand of friendship to the Colonist on their shores in 1620, and helped them survive starvation during the settlers’ first winders on their land;

WHEREAS members of the Native Nation for whom the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in named were ambushed and killed by Myles Standish, first commander of the Plymouth Colony, at Wessagusett (now Weymouth) in April of 1623, barely two years after the Pilgrims arrived;

WHEREAS the Colonial broadsword held by a white hand above the head of the Indigenous person on the Massachusetts Flag and Seal is modeled after Myles Standish’s own broadsword, borrowed for that purpose from Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth by the illustrator Edmund Garrett in 1884;

WHEREAS the belt binding the Native’s cloak on the Flag and Seal is modeled after a belt for my Metacomet, known to the English as King Philip, who was among the Indigenous leaders that resorted to a mutually destructive war in 1675-76 in defense of Native lands against Colonial encroachment;

WHEREAS the proportions of the body of the Indigenous person on the Flag and Seal were taken from the skeleton ofan Indigenous person unearthed in Winthrop, the bow modeled after a bow taken from an Indige­ nous man shot and killed by a colonist in Sudbury in 1665, and the facial features taken from a photograph of an Ojibwe chief from Great Falls, Montana, considered by the illustrator to be a "fine specimen of an Indian," though not from Massachusetts;

WHEREAS the history of relations between Massachusetts since Colonial times and the Native Nations who continue to live within its borders includes the forced internment of thousands of so-called "praying Indians" on Deer Island, in Boston Harbor, where they died by the hundreds of exposure in the winter of 1675, the enslavement of Indigenous people in Boston , Bermuda , and the Caribbean Islands, the offering of 40 pounds sterling as bounty for the scalps of indigenous men, women and children in Massachusetts beginning in 1686 , increased to 100 pounds sterling for the scalps of Indigenous adult males by 1722, half that amount for Indigenous women and children;

WHEREAS Indigenous people were legally prohibited from even stepping foot into Boston from 1675 until 2004, when that Colonial law was finally repealed;

WHEREAS the 400^th anniversary of the landing of the Colonists at Plymouth Plantation, which gave rise to the long chain of genocidal wars and deliberate government policies of cultural destruction against Native Nations of this continent, occurred in the year 2020, affording every citizen of the Commonwealth a chance to reflect upon this history and come to an appreciation of the need for better relations between the descendants of the Colonial immigrants and the Native Nations of the Commonwealth;

WHEREAS the land area now known as the Town of Arlington, shares a rich Native history with modern tribal Nations such as the Massachusetts, who have inhabited this area long before the first colonial settlers arrived, in 1635;

(Inserted at the request of the Chadi Salamoun and ten registered voters)