From the Town Clerk
Hello All ~ I hope this article finds you all healthy and safe along with having an enjoyable Thanksgiving Holiday. I wish you all a healthy and happy December holiday season with your family and friends.
11-7-2023 FALL - SPECIAL TOWN MEETING UPDATE
As you know, Tuesday, November 7th Rehoboth held their Special “Fall” Town Meeting at the Francis Farm Community Complex – Museum Building at 7:00 PM with 153 voters present. The meeting began with the Board of Selectmen’s request to change the name of the Francis Farm polling location and town meeting location from “Museum Building” to either “Heritage Meeting Hall” or “Taylor Meeting Hall”. The question was asked in the “practice mode” of voting with the Meridia voting devices. The results were 83 voters (63%) of the voters requesting the name change be Heritage Meeting Hall and 48 (37%) of the voters requesting the name of Taylor Meeting Hall. The next action will be to have the Board of Selectmen officially vote to change the name of the Francis Farm Museum Building to Heritage Meeting Hall at a regularly scheduled Board of Selectmen’s meeting. Once voted, the Board will supply the Town Clerk’s Office with the “Certified Board of Selectmen Vote” and we will begin the process with the State to change the name of an official polling location. The process should be complete mid-late July if the Selectmen vote prior to calendar year-end 2023. There were only eight questions on the STM Warrant. Please see the table below for the results of the eight warrant articles:
ANNUAL TOWN CENSUS
Our Annual Town Census Forms for the year 2024 will be mailed to all households in Rehoboth during the first week of January. The Board of Registrars is required to conduct an annual listing of residents as of the first of January each year. In addition to the name, address, telephone number, date of birth, occupation, veteran status, and number of dogs, the form includes a section for school information required by the school department. Please Note: a section for e-mail addresses and cell phone numbers is included on your 2024 Town Census form. If you no longer have a home phone and use a cell phone, please let us know your new number so we can update our records. Please also provide your e-mail address ~ thank you.
As a reminder, failure to return the completed Town Census form may result in voters being placed on an “inactive” voting list or being removed from the voting list. Please do not let this happen to you; please return your census as soon as you receive it in January. Simply review the pre-printed Census Form, make any necessary corrections, sign it, and return it no later than January 31st. You may choose to return the Census Form via the U.S. Postal Service, or utilize the Census drop box at Town Hall. Additionally, you may scan your signed and completed census forms and email them to us at TownClerk@RehobothMA.GOV. This year we will also be placing the Census drop boxes around town. Look for a census box at the new Town Hall, Francis Farm COA Senior Center, Blanding Library and the Bristol Savings Bank lobby. The Clerk’s Office is looking forward to hearing from you in January.
New residents may receive blank forms, which they are asked to complete and return. If you do not receive a Census Form, please contact the Town Clerk’s Office 508-252-6502 X-3112, X-3109 or X-3110. Blank Census forms are also available on the town website @ http://www.town.rehoboth.ma.us/town-clerk/pages/census-information
For your information, results of the Town Census are used to prove residency for a variety of reasons. The data is also used for state college entrance applications, veterans’ benefits, amending and establishing birth records, locating missing persons, establishing precinct lines, predicting future school enrollment, state and federal funding to the town, police and fire protection, updating the voting list, and other legal purposes. Please return your town census as soon as possible, but no later than January 31, 2024 ~ thank you.
For the convenience of dog owners, we will again include with the 2024 Census, an application for the 2024 Dog License(s). This gives dog owners the opportunity to license their dogs well before the annual April 1st due date should they want to license their dogs early. Dog license applications must be accompanied by a current rabies certificate (with a vaccination date of May 1, 2024 or later) and proof of spay or neuter, unless we already have it on file in the Clerk’s Office (if applying for the $10 licensing fee). If you are unsure, please give our office a call and we can let you know what we have in our database. Dog owners should note that the license(s) will not be returned unless a stamped, self-addressed envelope is included (the current postage will be printed on the dog license application). For your information, we are hopeful that we will be able to hold our Annual Rabies Vaccination Clinic again this year with Seekonk; however, we are awaiting direction from the town of Seekonk and local veterinarians to see when and where the rabies vaccination clinic can be conducted. For scheduling purposes, we hope the Rabies Clinic date will be Saturday, March 16th, 2024 at the Seekonk Public Safety building; however, that is dependent on availability. We will let you know once the date, location and time is set. Details will hopefully be printed in the 2024 Town Census mailer. If not, we will send out a mailer to all registered dog owners informing them of the 2024 Rabies Clinic date and location once determined.
Reminder, all residents 70-years old or over do not need to pay the $10 or $20 yearly dog licensing fee. You may remember, I submitted an article at the May 8, 2017 Annual Town Meeting (Article 15) requesting Town Meeting vote to accept MGL CHAPTER 140 SECTION 139(c), which states “No fee shall be charged for a license issued under this section for a service animal as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act or regulations promulgated thereunder. No fee shall be charged for a license for a dog owned by a person aged 70 years or over in a city or town that accepts this provision”. Town meeting did approve the acceptance of MGL Chapter 140 Section 139 (c), which permits the Town Clerk’s Office to waive dog licensing fees for service animals and for dogs owned by any Rehoboth resident 70 years of age and older. Proof of rabies vaccinations for each dog and proof of the dog owner’s age (70 or older) is required. As per Town Counsel, this does not include Kennel Fees. Even though you are 70 or over, you still need to register your dog every year and provide proof of a valid rabies vaccination for your dog. Thank you!!
If you are returning your dog tag application, as well as your census forms, residents are asked to return their completed forms via mail, e-mail, drop off in census bins around town or place their form in the Town Hall drop box at 340 Anawan Street.
PLEASE NOTE: In 2022, we moved our dog licensing program to an online database program, similar to the Building Permitting process, which can be accessed from the comfort of your home computer, tablet or smartphone. Complete details of the Dog Licensing Program can be found on the Town Clerk webpage – Dog Licenses. Direct link: https://www.rehobothma.gov/town-clerk/pages/dog-licenses . To register your dog online, those dog owners who have a valid e-mail address in our Permiteyes Dog Licensing database will receive a Payment Link in their e-mail during the first week of January to renew their dog’s 2024 license. If you prefer to renew via the Town website, please go to– www.RehobothMA.gov – choose “Online Permits” under the “Citizen’s Action Center” on the homepage and choose “Dog License Renewal”. Please keep your search simple. Search street name only, not Road, Rd, RD. To narrow your search, please choose "single dog" from the "Application Type" dropdown menu (1) Owner Last Name only (2) and (3) Street "Name" or Dog "Name" only. Thank you! Once in your dog’s online record, please click the Renew button to the left of your dog's expired license. For those dog owners with a new dog, please complete the form in your 2024 Census or on the Town Clerk’s Dog Licensing website @ https://www.rehobothma.gov/town-clerk/pages/dog-licenses. You may also continue to use the mail-in/drop-off process or simply stop by to register your dog if you do not have access to a computer or don’t wish to process your dog’s license online.
Residents are requested to please send in their census forms as quickly as possible regardless of whether or not they license their dogs at this time.
URGENT ALERTS – NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Over the past few years, there has been very important information provided to those residents who have signed up for the Town’s “Urgent Alerts” and “Subscribe to News”. The Town’s “Official” notification site is Rehoboth’s town website @ https://www.rehobothma.gov/ . If important information needs to get to the residents of the Town, we use the front page of the Town’s website; either under “News and Announcements” or “Urgent Alerts” to notify our residents. Once the information is posted to the website, we send those residents who have “Subscribed to News” an e-mail alerting them of the updated important information. Also, on the front of the Town website is a current listing of all public meetings under the “Meetings” tab, which is next to the “News” tab, in the center of the Town’s homepage. If you would like to be notified of upcoming meetings, urgent alerts, or news and announcements posted on the Town website, simply click on the “Subscribe to News” under the “Citizen Action Center” on the left side of the home page ( https://www.rehobothma.gov/ ) and complete all the requested information. For step-by-step directions on how to subscribe, please either click on “How to Subscribe to News & Alerts” under “Subscribe to News” in the “Citizen Action Center” or follow this link:
Please do not rely solely on social media or rumors regarding important Town matters. All “Official” Town of Rehoboth alerts, meetings, and news are posted on the Town Website and sent to all subscribers to News and Alerts via the e-mail address they provide. Please “be in the know” by signing up for Subscribe to News & Alerts ~ thank you.
TOWN OFFICES CLOSED
The Town Offices will be closed on Friday, December 22nd due to Christmas Eve falling on Sunday and Monday, December 25th, in observance of the Christmas Holiday. Offices will also close on Friday, December 29th for New Year’s Eve due to New Year’s Eve falling on Sunday and Monday, January 1, 2024 for New Year’s Day.
Kerrie, Jenn and I would like to wish you all a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season! We wish peace, HEALTH and prosperity to all Rehoboth residents for the New Year. It is truly an honor to serve as your Town Clerk for almost eleven years ~ thank you all for enriching my life every day!!! Thank you all for an unforgettable 2023. Please stay healthy and safe. Happy Holidays ~ I look forward to talking with you again in January.
Sincerely,
Laura
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