March 29, 2024

From the Town Clerk

Posted

Hello All ~ I hope you are enjoying the beautiful Fall weather in Rehoboth! Speaking of the Fall, I would like to remind all town residents that Town Offices will be closed on Monday, October 14th for Columbus Day.

Upcoming Special Town Meeting – TUESDAY, October 29, 2019
ANOTHER REMINDER: The Board of Selectmen scheduled our Fall Special Town Meeting for Tuesday, October 29, 2019 rather than the previously scheduled November 4th that appears on the 2019 Census calendar. By October 15th, you should receive the 10-29-19 Special Fall Town Meeting Warrant in the mail. Our Special Fall Town Meeting will be held at the Dighton-Rehoboth High School Auditorium at 7:00 PM. I suggest you come early to check-in. The election workers will be ready to check you in at 6:00 p.m. Remember that there was a line waiting to check-in the voters at 7:00 p.m. at the July Special Town Meeting. Even though our election workers can now process voters at an amazing speed of 14 voters per minute, when everyone shows up at 6:45, they can only process voter check-in as fast as the iPad allows. If you want to be seated when Town Meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. please schedule your arrival at the High School lobby no later than 6:20/6:30 p.m. If you come earlier, there will be plenty of time to process the voters; however, if everyone shows up at 6:45/7:00 p.m., there is a chance you may miss the beginning of the meeting. If you will be 18 years of age or older by October 29, 2019, you may register to vote by the Friday, October 18th deadline ~ just in time for Fall Town Meeting. Remember for Town Meetings you must be present in order to vote. No Absentee Ballots are allowable. Hope to see you there.

Also, at the upcoming Town Meeting, the Town Moderator approved a request from Anawan Pharmacy to provide flu shots to those residents who are interested. Erik and Richard will be available for those who would like to get their annual flu shot prior to the start of Town Meeting. Please bring your insurance card if you have insurance. Also available on October 17, 2019 between the hours of 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Erik and Richard will be available and teaming up with Rehoboth Town Nurse, Jaime Conlon, for a Flu Shot clinic at Town Hall located at 148 Peck Street.

I personally have to give a shout out to Richard and Erik of Anawan Pharmacy for all they do for the Town of Rehoboth, it’s residents, the 375th Anniversary Celebration Committee and myself during my knee replacement process. I can’t thank you enough for all your help, guidance and loyalty to the Town; it is wonderful to have friendly Pharmacists here in Rehoboth ~ Thank You!

Voter Registration – Fall Town Meeting
We will have another special voter registration session on Friday, October 18th with extended hours, from 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., for those who cannot make it to Town Hall during regular business hours. If you are unable to make it to town hall, you may also register online @ https://www.sec.state.ma.us/OVR/ or www.RegisterToVoteMA.com. Reminder – if you are not registered to vote by Friday, October 18th, you will not be able to participate in the October 29th Special Fall Town Meeting. If you would like to check on your voter registration status, simply go to the Secretary of State’s Election Division website and complete the required fields @ https://www.sec.state.ma.us/VoterRegistrationSearch/MyVoterRegStatus.aspx . If you are not an “Active” registered voter, please call the Town Clerk’s Office to see how you can register to vote or reactivate your voting status at (508) 252-6502 X-3109 or 3110.

Attorney General Approved General & Zoning Bylaws from the May 13 & 28th Town Meeting Sessions
On August 28th we received notification that the Attorney General’s Office approved all our bylaw amendments from the May 13th and 28th Annual Town Meeting. The articles were: Articles 7 – Amendment to General Bylaw-Chapter A-Article 1, Section 2- Calling of Town Meetings (changing the meeting dates from Monday to Tuesday), Article 8 – Amendment to the Zoning Bylaws Article 2.0 Definitions (revised definitions of Microbrewery and Microdistillery); Article 9 – Amendment to Chapter E Zoning Bylaws – Article 4.0 Use Regulation – adding Microbrewery and Microdistillery to the Business District section; Article 10 – Amendment to the General Bylaw – Chapter “O” Stretch Energy Code (added to bylaws) and Article 12 - Amendment to our General Bylaws-Chapter J; Article II – Utility Installation in the Roadways (revised existing bylaw). The Attorney General gave a few clarifications to Article 12, which were posted throughout the 12-posting locations in Town. Once the bylaws are approved by the Attorney General, the General Bylaws become effective on the date the AG’s approval posting is made and the Zoning Bylaws become effective from the date they were approved at Town Meeting. Both the General and Zoning Bylaws have been updated and appear on the Town Website @ https://www.town.rehoboth.ma.us/town-clerk/pages/bylaws-town-rehoboth at no cost. If you would like to purchase a printed copy, they are available at Town Hall for $15.00 per copy.

Thank You Rehoboth Voters and Rehoboth Community Preservation Committee
As many of you know, at the May 13, 2019 Special Town Meeting, voters approved $21,000 from the Historic Preservation Reserve of the Community Preservation Act Fund for Preservation of 256 rolls of microfilm (approximately 423,500 images); contents on those rolls were Town records that dated back to the 1600’s. While collecting the rolls for Image Data and General Code to pick up and convert to .tiff and .pdf files, Lynn and I discovered another 22 rolls of old Police Film, which we did not know we had. Those records are now a part of the Microfilm Preservation project, which will provide us with 278 rolls of converted data for future generations to use. Thank you all for supporting the preservation of our Town records.

Dog Licenses
Unfortunately, after four mailed reminders, several monthly reminders in the Rehoboth Reporter, and reminder calls from our Animal Control Officer, the town has issued non-criminal citations to those residents who have not paid their April 1, 2019 dog license fees. If you received a citation, please make sure your dog(s) have a valid rabies certificate and send, or bring your licensing fees to Town Hall, as soon as possible. To date we have registered 2,129 dogs and we currently have 63 license renewals outstanding. Due to several dog owners not paying their dog licenses for the past few years, some back to 2016, the Animal Control Officer has been forced to file a Criminal Complaint with the Taunton District Court. Please do not let this happen to you. Please pay your outstanding dog licenses as soon as possible. As a reminder, the Town Clerk’s Office will be open for voter registration on Friday, October 19th from 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM; therefore, if you would like to stop by and pay your dog license fees then, we will be open for business ~ thank you. Additionally, dog licenses can be renewed online @ https://www.invoicecloud.com/rehobothgovsvcs, or by mail (if paying by mail, checks should be made payable to the “Town of Rehoboth”). We hope to hear from you or see you soon.

ATTENTION: Census 2020 Employees - Address Canvassing in Rehoboth August 4, 2019 Through October 18, 2019
Even though the Town has tried to alert the residents of the 2020 Federal Census Workers going door to door in Rehoboth through announcements at the Board of Selectmen’s meetings, posting the notice on the Town Website under “Urgent Alerts” on August 14, 2019 @ https://www.town.rehoboth.ma.us/home/urgent-alerts/attention-census-2020-employees-address-canvassing-rehoboth-august-4-2019-through and sending out e-notifications to all website subscribers, we have been receiving numerous calls about the Census workers going door to door. The Census Bureau is currently conducting Address Canvassing, the first major field operation of the 2020 Census, and will continue to run through mid-October. Census Bureau address canvassers ensure an accurate and complete count by verifying addresses, which involves noting where houses, apartments, shelters, and other residences are located. Prior to the 2010 Census, address canvassing was done for 100% of the addresses. For the 2020 Census, only about 30% of the addresses will be visited by address canvassers and only in areas where there has been significant changes over the past 10 years. The address canvassers will knock on the door of an address they are trying to verify, to confirm the address and inquire if there are any other separate living quarters in the house. These activities will take place during daylight hours. If no one answers the door, the address canvasser will look for visual identifiers to confirm the address, such as an address on a mail box, and if nothing can be found, the address will be flagged for further follow-up.

The Census Bureau has stated that they are proactively working with local law enforcement. Their Office of Security sent a memo and a poster about Address Canvassing to each and every law enforcement agency in the country. The poster contains sample pictures of the official government badge with photo ID and the bag and laptop with the 2020 Census logo that address canvassers will have with them. In addition, via a partnership with the International Association of Chiefs of Police, every police station in the country will show the Address Canvassing video this week at the start of police shifts, known as roll call, so that police officers know the operation is occurring and how to identify a census worker. There is a short video that you can view, which helps explain the program and how to identify address canvassers @
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOSl4sc3Ts4&feature=youtu.be
If you are visited by someone from the Census Bureau, and want to verify their identity and occupation, here are some tips to assure the validity of the field representative:
• Census takers must present an ID badge that includes a photograph of the field representative, a Department of Commerce watermark, and an expiration date.
• Follow this link and enter any field representative’s credentials.:
https://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/main/email.cgi
• Note that census workers may be carrying a Census Bureau phone or a laptop as well as a bag with a Census Bureau logo.
• This link shows a map of locations where Census workers will be working. https://gis-portal.data.census.gov/arcgis/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=1a0004d1745547888c8fd2f4d929d42f zoom into Bristol County and then Rehoboth. There are two census tracks in Rehoboth: #6331 – North Rehoboth and #6332 – South Rehoboth
• If you still have questions, please call 800-991-2520 to speak with a Regional Census Bureau representative.

Marriage Intentions/Marriage Certificates
October is one of our busiest months for Marriage Intentions/Certificates in Rehoboth. Therefore, as a quick reminder of the process, both parties must come to Town Hall and complete a three-part packet (Marriage Intention, Marriage Supplement, and Marriage Worksheet). The parties must provide their social security number and mother’s maiden name. Upon completion of the documents, there is a “State required” 3-day waiting period before the couple may pick up their marriage license. The marriage license is good for 60-days. If you are not married within that timeframe, you must complete the process again. The charge is $20 for the Marriage Intention and $10 for the Marriage Certificate. Note: If you are using an officiant from another state (Rhode Island for example), your officiant must obtain a one-day solemnization certificate from the Secretary of State’s office prior to your wedding day. The application can be found on the Secretary of State’s website https://www.sec.state.ma.us/OneDayWeb/External/Welcome.aspx , the Rehoboth Town Clerk’s website https://www.town.rehoboth.ma.us/town-clerk/pages/marriage-licenses , or we have copies at Town Hall.

83rd Citizens’ Legislative Seminar at the Massachusetts State House
I am thrilled to learn that Senator Paul Feeney nominated me to participate in the 83rd Citizens’ Legislative Seminar, which will take place on October 22nd and 23rd at the Massachusetts State House in Boston. The Citizens Legislative Seminar aims to better educate the public on how the legislative process actually functions in the Commonwealth. During the two-day seminar I will be involved with topics such as the formal and informal legislative process, the budget process, the parliamentary role of the Clerk of the Senate, and the future of the Legislature. The seminar concludes with a simulated legislative hearing and Senate session where participants are invited to use what they have learned to fill the roles of Senators. I can’t wait to share my experience with you in my next month’s article.

Finally, please remember the Fall Special Town Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 29, 2019 in the Dighton-Rehoboth High School Auditorium at 7:00 p.m. Final voter registration for Special Town Meeting is Friday, October 19th from 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. One additional reminder – THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1ST QUARTERLY REAL ESTATE TAXES ARE DUE. Please have a wonderful October ~ Lynn and I wish you all a safe and healthy Columbus Day & Halloween! Happy “employment anniversary” Lynn Shaker ~ 14 years with the Town of Rehoboth as Assistant Town Clerk! Thank you for your dedication to the town and residents of Rehoboth.

Sincerely,
Laura

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