Lee — The annual Town Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 9 at 7 p.m. at the Lee High School auditorium.
There are 21 articles on this year’s annual Town Meeting Warrant, including Article 7 approving the town’s fiscal 2025 general fund operating budget. The proposed general operating budget for fiscal 2025 is about $22.8 million, a $1.14 million increase from this year’s general operating budget.
According to a written summary of the annual Town Meeting Warrant issued by Town Administrator Chris Brittain, the proposed 5.22 percent increase is related to several items: an eight percent increase in healthcare costs, a seven percent increase in retirement costs, a five percent increase in education costs, and a 40 percent increase in energy costs for the second half of the fiscal year. “It is important to note that the Board of Assessors has also released $344,000 of overlay surplus which will be applied towards lowering the tax rate,” Brittain wrote in his summary. “This, combined with projected new growth and local revenue, should bring the estimated tax impact closer to 3.25 percent.”
Article 8 includes several proposed capital purchases from the town’s free cash fund, which would total $592,962. The proposed purchases include $284,542 for the Department of Public Works paving and roads project. According to Brittain, the proposed budget includes a total of $900,000 in funds for paving that will be funded through multiple sources, including available town cash, Chapter 90 funds, funds from the state’s Chapter 40R program, and revenue from the state’s Fair Share Amendment fund.
Article 8 also includes $100,000 in proposed funding for upgrades for HVAC units in the town’s two school buildings. According to Brittain, the town’s contribution will be matched with both school choice funds and state grant funds to meet the total replacement costs for the HVAC units.
Other expenditures proposed in Article 8 include $45,000 for the town’s Police Department to replace tasers and ballistic vests, $39,600 for the town’s Fire Department to purchase new communication equipment, $35,000 for the DPW to purchase asphalt hotbox equipment for road repairs, and $24,320 to replace windows in the Lee Library.
Article 13 asks voters to approve the lease purchasing financing agreement, not to exceed $433,000, for the acquisition of DPW equipment, including a Ford F-600 diesel plow truck, a Ford F-250 pickup truck, and a Holder sidewalk-plowing machine. According to Brittain, the current DPW plow truck was made in 1996.
Articles 19 through 21 are proposed zoning amendments as recommended by the town. Article 19 is a proposal to amend the town’s zoning bylaws when it comes to marijuana permits and establishments. “This proposed bylaw change arises from recent experience with marijuana establishments, as well as significant changes in state regulations that reduce the town’s original authority to charge impact fees and regulate certain aspects of Marijuana establishments,” Brittain wrote. “It has three principal provisions: First, the bylaw would restrict the number of marijuana cultivators in town to one; second, the bylaw would prohibit outdoor marijuana cultivation; third, the bylaw would expand the general prohibition on creating offensive smells in town. The current prohibition is somewhat narrow and applies only to smells that can cause injury to people or property damage. The proposal here would add a second prohibition against smells that strongly or frequently occur and harm one or more neighbor’s ‘quiet enjoyment’ of their own properties. This proposed language is similar to that which is customary in the courts when one neighbor sues another for creating a nuisance.”
Article 20 asks residents to amend the town’s Accessory Dwelling Units zoning bylaws. “This proposal attempts to clarify an issue that came up during the recent town meeting which first enacted this ADU bylaw: when Short-Term Rental (STR) use is allowed on properties containing an ADU,” Brittain wrote. “The proposal would change the status quo in two ways: First, it would allow STR use for an attached ADU, such as a ‘Mother-in-Law Apartment’ in the main building; second, on a lot where there is a physically separate ADU, the bylaw would prohibit for the first time STR use of the main house.”
Article 21 asks residents to approve an amendment that would apply to split zones in town. “The first [part of the amendment] reduces the setback requirement in the Rural Business Zone from 75 feet to 40 feet,” Brittain wrote. “Forty feet is the largest setback required anywhere else in town. The second part allows the planning board, on petition from a landowner, to extend by up to 50 feet the frontage zoning on a lot that falls in two zones. This planning board action would be taken, if at all, after notice to neighboring properties and the opportunity for hearing any objections. Together, these two proposals are aimed at making the Rural Business Zone more attractive to potential new businesses.”
The full Town Meeting Warrant is available on the town’s website.
