March 29, 2024

From the Town Clerk

Posted

~HAPPY HOLIDAYS ~ from the Town Clerk’s office. December is here and with that comes the many holiday traditions we have adopted along the way. In our household we have a family tradition, while decorating our tree we hide a Christmas Pickle ornament, and who ever finds it Christmas morning will have good luck all year.  I decided to look into the Christmas pickle tradition and found the origins came from a Woolworths marketing gimmick in the late 1800’s. They received a shipment of German shaped pickle ornaments and needed a sales pitch; the rest is history.

Whatever your holiday traditions are and whatever holiday you celebrate, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza the Town Clerk’s office wishes everyone a wonderful time with family and friends.

The Annual Fall Town meeting was held on November 14, 2022.

Below you will find an outline of town meeting results. If you want to read the minutes in their entirety you can find them on the town web-site www.seekon-ma.gov under the department heading Town Clerk.

Annual Fall Town Meeting news
Seekonk held its Fall Town Meeting at Seekonk High School, 261 Arcade Ave. Monday November 14, 2022.

Town Clerk called the meeting to order at 7:015PM

Article 1 - To receive town officers or town committee reports. No Reports. Motion passed.

Article 2 - To see if the Town would vote to raise and appropriate, transfer from available funds in the treasury or transfer from designated funds that have been reserved for appropriation the sums detailed below in accordance with the Financial Policies of the Town of Seekonk adopted by the Board of Selectmen, April 2021, or take any other action relative thereto.

  1. The sum of $415,737.75 from Free Cash to the Stabilization Fund.
  2. The sum of $415,737.75 from Free Cash to the Municipal Capital Stabilization Fund.
  3. The sum of $530,149.28 from Free Cash to the Building & Infrastructure Stabilization Fund.
  4. The sum of $415,737.75 from Free Cash to the Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) Trust Fund.

Motion passed.

Article 3- To see if the Town would vote to transfer a sum money from Free Cash to the FY 2023 Town Meeting Operating Budget Line Item #57 (Tri-County School Assessment) and to the FY 2023 Town Meeting Operating Budget Line Item #59 (Bristol County Agricultural), or take any other action relative thereto. Motion passed

Article 4- To see if the Town would vote to raise and appropriate, transfer from Free Cash or available funds in the treasury, including funds reserved for appropriation, the sum of $120,000 to fund the cost elements of the collective bargaining agreement between the Town and the Seekonk Public Library Employee Association, MLSA, AFT, AFL-CIO, for a term beginning July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023, and, further, to authorize the Town Accountant to allocate such amounts accordingly, or take any other action relative thereto. Motion passed.

Article 5- To see if the Town would vote to raise and appropriate, transfer from Free Cash or available funds in the treasury, including funds reserved for appropriation, the sum of $140,000 to fund the cost elements of the first fiscal year of a collective bargaining agreement between the Town and the Fraternal Order of Police, MCOP, Local #215, for a term beginning July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2025, or take any other action relative thereto. Motion passed.

Article 6 – To see if the Town would vote to accept Clause 56 of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 59, Section 5, allowing members of the Massachusetts National Guard or military reservists who are on active duty to obtain a reduction of all or part of their real estate and personal property taxes for any fiscal year they are serving in a foreign country, to be effective beginning fiscal year 2024, provided, further, that in accordance with said law, the authority to grant abatements under this section shall be for a period of two years after the effective date unless extended by Town Meeting, or take any other action relative thereto. Motion passed.

Article 7- To see if the Town would vote to amend the Town of Seekonk General Bylaws, Category 27, Special Event Permit, Section 4, by deleting the word “certified”, with the text to be deleted shown below in bold strikethrough, or take any other action relative thereto.

Section 4 — Notice to Abutting Owners

The Board of Selectmen applicant shall send special notice by certified mail to all owners of abutting property within two hundred (200) feet of the proposed site of the event and associated parking area(s) containing the time and place of the public hearing regarding said special event. The applicant shall bear the cost of the certified mail. Motion failed.

Article 8- To see if the Town of Seekonk will vote to accept as a public way the road known as Lannister Lane, as heretofore laid out by the Board of Selectmen, all as shown on a Definitive Subdivision Plan entitled “Winterfell” in Seekonk, Massachusetts, prepared by InSite Engineering Services, LLC, dated September 9, 2014, final version dated December 8, 2014, and recorded with the Bristol County Northern District Registry of Deeds in Plan Book 498, Page 52, said plan on file with the Town Clerk, for all purposes for which public ways are used in the Town of Seekonk, and to authorize the Board of Selectmen to acquire by gift, purchase, or eminent domain any necessary easements or other interests therein in connection therewith, or take any other action thereto. Motion passed.

Article 9 - To see if the Town will vote to amend the Town of Seekonk Personnel Bylaw, Section 050, The Personnel Board, by adding the text shown below in bold at the end of the second paragraph, or take any other action relative thereto.

050 – The personnel board 

The Personnel Board shall consist of five members appointed by the Town Moderator. This Board shall be responsible for the administration of all aspects of the Personnel By-law, and shall establish such procedures, as it deems necessary. In absence of a Personnel Board, the Board of Selectmen shall fulfill the role and responsibilities of the Personnel Board. Motion passed.

Article 10- To see if the Town will vote to amend the Salary and Wage Plan, as referred to in Section 403 Salary Wage Plan, of the Personnel By-law, by deleting Appendix B of the By-law and inserting in its place the following:

Motion passed.

Article 11 - To see if the Town will raise and appropriate, transfer from free cash or available funds in the treasury, or transfer from designated funds that have been reserved for appropriation the following sums to be expended for department equipment and all incidental and related expenses, including new or continuing leases for such equipment, and further to authorize the appropriate Town officials to enter into contracts for more than three years for such purposes, as applicable, or take any other action relative thereto: From the Special Education Stabilization Fund the sum of $94,301.00 for expenses related to required unanticipated and unbudgeted out-of-district special education services. Motion passed.

Article 12 - To see if the Town will vote pursuant to G.L. c.40, §5B to establish a special purpose stabilization fund, to be known as the School Capital Stabilization Account, or take any other action thereto. Motion passed by 2/3 majority.

Article 13- To see if the Town will transfer $200,000 from the amounts appropriated under Article 7 of the November 9, 2020, which was held on March 27, 2021, Town Meeting for the Arcade Ave Sidewalk project for the purpose of funding the Arcade Ave Traffic Control Signal project, the construction of a Traffic Control Signal at the intersection of Arcade Avenue and Ledge Road, including all incidental and related expenses, such sums to be expended under the direction of the Board of Selectmen, or take any action relative thereto. Motion passed.

Article 14- To see if the Town will raise and appropriate, transfer from free cash or available funds in the treasury, or transfer from designated funds that have been reserved for appropriation the following sums to be expended for the Arcade Ave Traffic Control Signal project for the construction of a Traffic Control Signal at the intersection of Arcade Avenue and Ledge Road, including all incidental and related expenses, to be expended under the direction of the Board of Selectmen, or take any action relative thereto. Motion passed by 2/3 majority.

Article 15-To see if the Town will vote to transfer from the Board of Selectmen for the purposes for which it is currently held to the Board of Selectmen for the purpose of sale or other disposition, and authorize said board to sell or otherwise dispose of, the property known as “County Street Fire Station” located at 170 County Street and shown as Assessors Map #13, Lot #21, inclusive of buildings and land, as such property is no longer needed by the Town, or take any other action relative thereto. Motion failed to get 2/3 majority.

Article 16- To see if the Town will vote to transfer from the Board of Selectmen for the purposes for which it is currently held to the Board of Selectmen for the purpose of conveyance or other disposition, and authorize said board to sell or otherwise dispose of the property located on Assessor’s Map #10, Lot #12, at 0 Howland Street, inclusive of buildings and land, no longer needed by the Town, or take any other action relative thereto. Motion passed 2/3 majority.

Article 17-To see if the Town will vote to transfer from the Board of Selectmen for the purposes for which it is currently held to the Board of Selectmen for the purpose of conveyance or other disposition, and authorize said board to sell or otherwise dispose of the property located on Assessor’s Map #38, Lot #54, at 0 Burnside Ave, inclusive of buildings and land, no longer needed by the Town, or take any other action relative thereto.

Motion passed 2/3 majority.

Article 18-To see if the Town will: vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen and the Library Board of Trustees to appoint a Library Building Committee consisting of five residents, two to be appointed by the Board of Selectmen, and three to be appointed by the Board of Library Trustees for the purpose of overseeing the construction of a new library at 410 Newman Ave, under the direction of the Library Board of Trustees, to include but not be limited to, planning and design for the completion of the building,  development of appropriate designs, schematics, specifications, cost estimates, oversight of expenditures, and any other documentation required to construct and furnish such facility, or to take any other actions related thereto. Motion passed to indefinitely postpone.

Article 19- To see if the Town will vote, pursuant to G.L. c.43B, §10(a), to amend the Town Charter as set forth in a document attached to this warrant as “Appendix A”, and as on file with the Town Clerk and posted on the website at www.seekonk-ma.gov, with text to be deleted indicated by strikethrough and proposed new language inserted shown in red; such document also contains explanations solely for voter convenience and not intended to be part of the Charter amendments, all as shown in bold italics preceded by the word “NOTE:”, or take any other action relative thereto. Final vote to amend charter. Motion failed to get a 2/3 majority.

Meeting adjourned at 10:15PM.

Annual renewal to receive absentee ballots for 2023
Applications for absentee ballots to be sent to you for all elections in 2023 will be available January 1, either at the Town Clerk’s office or online at the www.seekonk-ma.gov under the Town Clerk heading. You can also call us at 508-336-2920, we will be glad to take your information over the phone and send you an application.

Nomination papers
Nomination papers for offices up for election for the Town election will be available December 15, 2022 in the Town Clerk’s office. Deadline to submit nomination papers to the Town Clerk is Monday February 13, 2023 at 5PM.

You must obtain a minimum of 50 signatures from voters registered in Seekonk. A street address not a P.O. box is required from each person signing your papers. Please make sure the signatures are legible otherwise we can’t count them.

The Town Offices hours over the week of Christmas and New Year will be:

Annual Census
The 2023 ANNUAL TOWN CENSUS/STREET LIST will be mailed to all households due to arrive by mid-January. Please update the information provided by adding, deleting, or making changes directly on the form. Please sign and return the census within 30 days. You CANNOT REGISTAR TO VOTE ON THIS FORM. If you don’t have a party designation next to your name you can register to vote by either going on line to www.sec.state.ma.us or coming into the Town Clerks office. There are multiple ways to return your census: mail it back to the Town Clerk with the provided envelope or drop it off at the following locations: Town Clerk’s Office, Town Hall drop box (outside Town Hall’s front door), Seekonk Sr. Center (540 Arcade Ave.), Seekonk Public Library, or you can scan it and email it to fcraig@seekonk-ma.gov or lsorel@seekonk-ma.gov

Many people ask why the State wants this information. The data collected from the census is used to prove residency, update the town’s voter rolls, veterans’ benefits, birth records, locating missing persons, predicting future school enrollment, establishing precinct lines, state and federal funding for the town, police and fire. It is important to respond in a timely manner, failure to respond to the census mailing may result in the removal from the active voting list and in removal from the voter registration rolls. (MGL CH. 51 Sec. 4c)

A dog license form is included in your census mailing. Please remember DOG TAGS EXPIRE ON MARCH 31. You can come to the Town Clerk's office to renew your dog's license, or you can mail the form in, with a check and a self-addressed stamped envelope. Please send a self-addressed envelope and stamp for each dog you are requesting a license for. We will send the dog tag(s) back to you in the mail. Just a reminder that it is a Massachusetts general law that dogs be licensed annually, with proof of a current rabies vaccination. Failure to comply may result in a by-law citation fee.

The Seekonk Senior Center is reaching out to families who may need a Christmas dinner basket. If you, or someone you know is in need please give the Senior Center a call at (508) 336-8772 and they will assist you in this wonderful giving back to the community program.  The deadline to sign up is December 15.

They will also be doing other wonderful programs: Adopting a family for Christmas and Sponsor a Senior. For more information on how you can adopt a family or Senior in need please call the Senior Center.

As we head into a new year, Lorraine and I hope everyone has a happy, healthy and safe Holiday Season.  

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