Friday, May 18, 2012
Residents completed the town's FY2013 business on May 16, approving purchase of a new fire engine, establishing a fund to cover turf field replacement and other items.
Needham’s 2012 Annual Town Meeting wrapped up Wednesday evening, May 16. Highlights of the fourth and final meeting night included approval of a land purchase, funding for a variety of capital items from energy efficiency upgrades to a new fire engine, and setting aside money for replacement of turf fields and other future needs. Here’s a quick look at the articles approved: Article 30: Cash Capital Items As town officials pointed out on the first night of Town Meeting, Needham has more money than usual left over from fiscal year 2011, in part because of higher than anticipated revenues. In typical years, the town has a range of $3.4 million to $3.6 million in “free cash” available at the close of a fiscal year; however, in the FY2011 …
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Needham Town Hall
1471 Highland Ave, Needham, MA
/articles/annual-town-meeting-wraps-up
2004019
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42.269353
-71.220782
Town of Needham: Department of Public Works
470 Dedham Ave, Needham, MA
/articles/annual-town-meeting-wraps-up
154523
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42.287283
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Memorial Park
92 Rosemary St, Needham, MA
/articles/annual-town-meeting-wraps-up
222931
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42.26887
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DeFazio Park
Dedham Ave & South St, Needham, MA
/articles/annual-town-meeting-wraps-up
222927
/locations/7049901
42.27869
-71.23719
Needham Fire Department
88 Chestnut St, Needham, MA
/articles/annual-town-meeting-wraps-up
154444
/locations/7049902
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Town Meeting voted Wednesday, May 16 to purchase parcels at 37-39 Lincoln St. for a surface lot.
Needham is looking to help solve its downtown parking problem with the purchase of a property at 37-39 Lincoln St. The purchase, Article 30 on the 2012 Annual Town Meeting warrant, was approved on the fourth and final night of Town Meeting, Wednesday, May 16. The site will add about 26 new parking spaces to the area and will adjoin an existing municipal lot on Chestnut Street. The purchase totaled $630,000, with $30,000 set aside for demolition, paving, landscaping and other work to be done on the site. “This purchase is part of planning for the future and, for that matter, is a part of addressing current needs,” Selectman Jerry Wasserman said Wednesday night. The town could draw additional revenue in parking permit fees on the site, …
42.277972
-71.236064
Needham Police Department
99 School St, Needham, MA
/articles/second-lincoln-street-purchase-will-help-ease-needham-s-parking-woes
154397
/locations/7038113
42.27795
-71.235759
59 Lincoln St, Needham, MA
/articles/second-lincoln-street-purchase-will-help-ease-needham-s-parking-woes
/locations/7038114
42.278035
-71.236381
89 School St, Needham, MA
/articles/second-lincoln-street-purchase-will-help-ease-needham-s-parking-woes
/locations/7038115
42.279068
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37 Lincoln St, Needham, MA
/articles/second-lincoln-street-purchase-will-help-ease-needham-s-parking-woes
/locations/7038116
42.278967
-71.235462
39 Lincoln St, Needham, MA
/articles/second-lincoln-street-purchase-will-help-ease-needham-s-parking-woes
/locations/7038117
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Needham residents Patricia Buckley and Ron Sockol were recognized Monday, May 14 at the May 2012 Special Town Meeting for 25 years of service to the town.
Being a Town Meeting member involves more than just showing up once a year—these 240 elected officials vote on town business throughout the year, at annual and special meetings that often run for multiple nights, late into the evening. In addition, Town Meeting members must be informed on the issues, several of which are pretty complicated and quite controversial. To recognize the unique committment of being a longtime Town Meeting member, every spring the Richard Patton Melick Foundation honors residents who have served as part of the voting body for 25 years or more. The foundation is named for Richard Patton Melick, who served as Town Moderator for 35 years, from 1962-1997. On Monday, May 14, just before the start of the May 2012 …
42.28049
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Needham Town Hall
1471 Highland Ave, Needham, MA
/articles/town-meeting-members-mark-25-years
2004019
/locations/7025426
Town Meeting voted Monday night in favor of a resolution that urges state legislators to push for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Needham has joined more than 45 other communities across Massachusetts in passing a resolution urging state legislators to seek an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would overturn the Supreme Court's controversial 2010 Citizens United decision. Article 23 on the town’s 2012 Annual Town Meeting warrant was the first and only item to come up Monday night, May 14, when the annual meeting was reconvened for a third time, following the conclusion of the May 2012 Special Town Meeting. After about an hour of discussion, Article 23 was brought to a voice vote, passing with majority support. The article addresses the Supreme Court’s ruling, in the 2010 case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, by a vote of 5-4, that it was …
42.28049
-71.23606
Needham Town Hall
1471 Highland Ave, Needham, MA
/articles/needham-passes-citizens-united-resolution
2004019
/locations/7025176
Needham residents took up 12 articles on the special warrant on Monday, May 14 before returning to business on the annual warrant.
At the May 2012 Special Town Meeting on Monday, May 14, Needham residents approved a $1.05 million purchase of property on Lincoln and School streets for parking and the possible future expansion of the Needham Police and Fire stations, among other business. On the third night of spring meetings, voters first took up the 12 articles listed in the Special Town Meeting warrant, quickly passing articles 1-2, 4, 6-7 and 9 by unanimous consent. Article 8 asked members to approve a land purchase and renovation totaling $1,175,000 for properties at 59 Lincoln St. and 89 School St.—$525,000 for each of the parcels, plus $125,000 for grading, excavation, paving, installation of drainage, lighting and other renovations. The purchase represents “a …
42.28049
-71.23606
Needham Town Hall
1471 Highland Ave, Needham, MA
/articles/land-purchase-ok-d-at-special-town-meeting
2004019
/locations/7011706
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Needham Town Meeting covered just five articles on the second night, opting to push discussion of Article 23—a resolution in support of a constitutional amendment—to next week.
Town Meeting will wait to take up a resolution on Citizens United as the first item when they reconvene next week following the special Town Meeting, which opens Monday, May 14. At 15 minutes to 11 p.m. on Wednesday, May 9, Town Meeting members decided to delay starting the discussion of Article 23, which one member said would be “a very controversial issue.” Instead, the members quickly passed two Community Preservation Act articles in the waning moments of Wednesday night’s meeting. It took just over three hours to get through three articles on the second evening of Needham's 2012 Annual Town Meeting. In addition to passing an article prohibiting bowhunting on town property except with permission by the Board of Selectmen (Article 20) …
42.28049
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Needham Town Hall
1471 Highland Ave, Needham, MA
/articles/pesticides-article-rejected-citizens-united-on-hold
2004019
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Town Meeting voted 158-59 in favor of petitioning the state legislature to authorize a local ballot question on whether to allow the sale of wine, beer and alcohol in Needham.
All Needham voters will have the chance to weigh in on the subject of allowing retail alcohol sales in Needham. Though the state legislature must first approve the town’s home rule petition seeking the right to place a question on the ballot, it is likely the issue will come up at a local election in the next year or so following a vote of Town Meeting Wednesday night. After about an hour of discussion in the second night of Needham’s 2012 Annual Town Meeting, held in the James Hugh Powers Hall on Wednesday, May 9, Town Meeting members put it to a vote, with 158 in favor of the measure and 59 against—enough of the required two-thirds approval needed to pass. Some Town Meeting members and residents voiced strong opposition to the article, …
42.28049
-71.23606
Needham Town Hall
1471 Highland Ave, Needham, MA
/articles/voters-to-decide-alcohol-sales-issue
2004019
/locations/6982519
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Town Meeting voters will consider whether Needham should lift its dry status; selectmen support the measure 4-1.
Tonight, Town Meeting will take up the issue of whether to allow the sale of alcohol in Needham—bringing to a vote a discussion that has been going on since last summer. The home rule petition is the first step toward lifting Needham’s dry status—if approved by Town Meeting and by the state, the issue will come before voters as a ballot question. On Tuesday, May 8, selectmen voted 4-1 in favor of the article, with Selectman John Bulian the only nay vote. Bulian listed many reasons for his decision, including the view that allowing alcohol to be sold at retail stores in Needham would change the culture of the town, even if just a little. “Is this going to make a big difference in the town? Probably not. Is it going to change the town—is it …
42.28049
-71.23606
Needham Town Hall
1471 Highland Ave, Needham, MA
/articles/alcohol-sales-article-to-come-up-tonight
2004019
/locations/6971697
The board maintained its stance on both issues, which are expected to come up at tonight's Town Meeting.
Selectmen on Tuesday revisited two citizen’s petition articles that are expected to come up at tonight’s continued 2012 Annual Town Meeting but ultimately came to the same decision. Article 22, which seeks to prohibit pesticide use on town property, and Article 23, a resolution against the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, have been changed somewhat since they were printed in the Town Meeting warrant, so selectmen revisited their recommendations on the issues. In the end, the board upheld its unanimous vote against supporting the pesticide article and also maintained a 3-2 vote supporting Article 23. Selectmen Dan Matthews and Matt Borrelli, who previously voted against the Citizens United resolution, again voted that way. …
42.28049
-71.23606
Needham Town Hall
1471 Highland Ave, Needham, MA
/articles/selectmen-revisit-pesticide-citizens-united-articles
2004019
/locations/6971630
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Articles on alcohol sales, Citizens United resolution will come up Wednesday, May 9.
Needham Town Meeting members moved quickly through the warrant at the opening of the 2012 Annual Town Meeting on Monday night, dispatching more than half of the articles in the first three and a half hours, including the town’s fiscal year 2013 operating budget totaling $117.7 million. Held in the newly restored “grand hall” on the second floor of Town Hall—now named James Hugh Powers Hall after the longest ever serving Town Meeting member—the 2012 meeting began with the usual business, including the swearing in of newly elected members. Though Town Moderator Michael Fee at first joked that the town clerk had insisted upon swearing in each member one at a time up front—a method that would have taken quite a while, as every single member …
42.28049
-71.23606
Needham Town Hall
1471 Highland Ave, Needham, MA
/articles/town-meeting-approves-117m-budget-in-first-night-81067613
2004019
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Catherine Kurkjian
9:47 am on Monday, May 21, 2012
It is important to realize that, although Warrant Article 21 gives residents the right to vote on lifting the alcohol ban, it in turn takes away the right to vote on the number and types of licenses issued. Considering the exorbitant time spent in public hearings and the pleas from residents for a more prudent approach to issuing licenses, it is disheartening that more specific regulations were … more ›