The Board of Selectmen will convene a Special Town Meeting (STM) on Monday, December 9 and Tuesday, December 10, 2019 to discuss possibly choosing a Moderator, the Hunnewell School building project and the Council on Aging governance.

The Special Town Meeting will be held in the Wellesley Middle School Auditorium, 50 Kingsbury St., at 7pm.

The list of issues (called articles) to be discussed by Town Meeting representatives is known as the Warrant.

Article 1 — Moderator, yes or no

Article 1 states: “To see if the Town will vote to choose a Moderator to preside over said meeting and to receive reports of town officers, boards and committees, including the Report of the Advisory Committee; or to take any other action in relation thereto.”

Article 2 — Money for Hunnewell School reconstruction or replacement

Article 2 states: “To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate, transfer from available funds, or borrow a sum of money, to be expended under the direction of the Permanent Building Committee, for architectural and engineering designs, plans and other specifications, bid documents, permitting, and any associated costs related to the reconstruction or replacement of the Hunnewell School located at 28 Cameron Street, and for any other services in connection therewith and, for the purpose of meeting such appropriation, to authorize the Town Treasurer, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, to borrow said sum in accordance with Chapter 44, Section 7(7) of the Massachusetts General Laws, or any other enabling authority and ti issue bonds or note of the Town therefor, and that any premium received by the Town upon the sale of any bonds or notes approved by this vote, less any such premium applied to the payment of the costs of the issuance of such bonds or notes, may be applied to the payment of costs approved by this vote in accordance with Chapter 44, Section 20 of the Massachusetts General Laws, thereby reducing the amount to be borrowed to pay such costs by a like amount, or to take any other action in relation thereto.

Article 3 — Citizen Petition, Council on Aging

Article 3 states: Town Meeting is being petitioned to authorize the Moderator to appoint and facilitate a Committee to evaluate the governance at the COA, including the treatment of the COA employees by the COA Board, and to report back to Town Meeting with the Committee’s recommendations for governance of the COS going forward. The COA Director will report to the Executive Director of General Government Services until the Committee makes its recommendations and further action is taken by Town Meeting.

My wander in search of the warrant

When the Town serves a warrant, by law a physical copy of the warrant must be displayed in at least two conspicuous places in town at least 14 days before the meeting is held. My go-to spot to check out the document has always been the bulletin board in Wellesley Square near the post office.

I asked Communications and Project Manager Stephanie Hawkinson for the lowdown. She told me, “At STM in May, Town Meeting members voted to change the posting location from the bulletin board to the bulletin board in front of the Clerk’s office and at the Wellesley Police Dept. As the bulletin board had been damaged and defaced after so many years outside, I think DPW took it down.”

So there we go. The STM warrant has been posted according to the process. Copies of the warrant are also available in the Selectmen’s Office.

Learn more about the STM articles:

A public hearing on the Special Town Meeting articles is planned for Wednesday, November 6 at 6:30pm during the Advisory Committee meeting. Residents are invited to attend to ask questions and share their thoughts.

Whatever happened to the idea of Indigenous Peoples Day?

Wellesley Board of Selectmen in April 2019 held a public forum to begin consideration of a request from the World of Wellesley (WOW) organization to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day in town. At the meeting, the public had the opportunity to speak about the WOW request. BOS Chairman Jack Morgan at that time said that the role of the BOS at the meeting would be as listeners, and that no immediate decision would be made as a direct result of this one meeting.

At this time, the BOS says that the question of whether to abolish Columbus Day and instead observe Indigenous Peoples Day should not be decided by an elected Board of five, but should be put to the largest elected body in Wellesley, Town Meeting.

Stay tuned for further upcoming public discussions. The next annual Town Meeting is scheduled for March 30, 2020.