PETERSHAM – Second time proved to be the charm when it came to convening Petersham’s Annual Town Meeting.

Last Saturday’s attempt had to be called off when attendance failed to reach the required quorum of 105 voters. On Monday, the meeting was recalled and the quorum easily surpassed, with 161 voters showing up to act on a 42-article warrant.

Among the items approved was Article 29, which asked for a $100,000 Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusion for the purchase of two new cruisers for the police department. Police Chief Peter Buck answered several questions before the question was moved, after which it was nearly unanimously approved. The next step in the process is the holding of a special election to vote on the debt exclusion via ballot question. The Selectboard will set the date for the election, which, according to Chair Nancy Allen, will likely be later in the summer.

“I’m sure it will happen as quickly as we can set up,” she said.

Voters also approved a local option allowed under state law, which allows personal property “accounts/values/assessments that are under $5,000” to be exempt from personal property tax bills.

Petersham Assessor Ellen Anderson told the Athol Daily News, “Personal property is stuff that is not real property. Real property is your land and your house and what’s attached to it. So, we tax your real property and we tax your car, and then we also can tax your personal property. For a single-family residence, most of your personal property – the couch you sit on, for example – is exempt.”

The article approved by voters, she explained, now allows the town to exempt the first $5,000 of assessed real property. She added the practice has been adopted by many Massachusetts municipalities.

The first of three citizen petition articles was approved after first being amended. One article asked that $2,000 be taken from the town’s stabilization fund to help support the Petersham Friday Market, including its program “of up to 20 music performances, and to provide no-cost fresh produce to families in need.” The article had not received a favorable recommendation from the town’s Advisory Finance Committee, but was approved when the amount requested was reduced to $1,500.

A second citizen petition sought to increase the number of members on the town’s Selectboard from three to five. Proponents argued the expansion would provide broader representation of the townspeople, while also helping residents to reach a board member with questions. Those opposed argued the change was unnecessary. The article was defeated by a margin of 97 to 15.

The final citizen petition asked voters “to approve nighttime lighting of the flag of the United States on the Town Common by July 4, 2023.” It also asked that funds be raised and appropriated from available funds and/or that gifts be accepted to help pay for the lighting. This article, like the previous two petitions, was not recommended by the Advisory Finance Committee.

However, the article was approved by a vote of 53 in favor, 50 opposed, and nine abstaining. Allen explained that the measure passed after several people committed to provide support for the lighting.

Allen said the quorum was reached by 7:10 p.m. and the meeting adjourned at about 9:20 p.m.

“We were scrambling to set up more chairs,” she said. “We had 110 chairs set up on the floor and there was a point where the moderator asked if we could get more chairs out there because the line was out the front door. So, the Selectboard and Finance Committee got up, and our custodian pitched in, and we were putting chairs out and handing them to people as they came in.”

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.

]]>