Coldest Town Meeting Day
In Lo These Fifty Years
By M. D. Drysdale

Katie Sweet blows frozen soap-bubbles at 10 below zero in Randolph Wednesday. Her brother Luke is behind her. Village thermometers were at 20-below zero and it was the coldest Town Meeting day in 50 years.

The Herald's weatherman, Kevin Doering, made it official at the start of Randolph's Town Meeting Tuesday morning: Town Meeting day of 2007 was one of the very coldest in 50 years.

When he left his Randolph Center home, Doerring said, it was 11 below zero with the wind howling at 25 to 35 miles an hour. That figures out to be a wind chill rating of 40 to 45 degrees below zero, he said, conditions that will freeze unprotected flesh in five minutes.

Inside the 100-year-old Chandler Music Hall, however, both temperatures and tempers were generally moderate. It was warm enough to take off your coat, and most of the discussion was informational, not confrontational. The weather did not seem to cut attendance by much.

Formal business in both the school meeting and town meeting were quickly dispensed with. School Board Chair Matt Poirer led a tribute to retiring board member Garry Tallman, and called attention to a new collaboration with Brookfield and Braintree schools, leading to a common mission and vision in all three schools.

Normal borrowing was approved with out a hitch, and there were no questions about the budget or other reports.

As attention turned to Town business, two new members were elected to the Budget Committee—the only office filled through election on the "floor" of the meeting.

Judy Soules, nominated by Stephen Springer, will take the three-year term of Mary Hardy, who is stepping down (and received a thank-you). The one-year vacancy will be filled by Kevin Haupt, who later in the meeting gave demonstrated that he intends to take the job seriously.

"We have too much of a physical plant," he declared, saying it "is bankrupting us."

Reserve Funds

Citizens heard explanations for the selectboard's desire to create three "reserve funds," before approving all three funds by voice vote.

One is a "Town Buildings Reserve Fund" which will collect money to cover major repairs to the "12-14 buildings" currently owned by the town, explained Selectboard Chair Jim Hutchinson.

"It's to make sure that we're accumulating money before the fact," he explained.

The other two reserve funds are essentially "shoeboxes" into which private donations may flow to specific recreation projects, it was explained by Michael Penrod of the Friends of the Rink organization.

One "shoebox" would receive money for upgrading the rink by installing a sophisticated concrete slab. The other would receive money for upgrading the tennis courts.

The town already has funds in reserve for both projects, through previous appropriations and grants, but private fundraising is needed.

Creating the special reserve funds accomplishes two things, it was explained. First, they allow the gifts to be tax-deductible under the IRS code; and second, they help ensure that the money is spent for the purposes it was raised for. The Selectboard could not divert any of the money without a vote of the whole town, it was stated.

Former Town Clerk and Treasurer Doris Bowman expressed concern with the proliferation of special funds, and Charles Russell urged a "no" vote since the funds collected were to be private.

But the selectboard insisted, in response to a question, that the fundraising would not cause the town to delegate "its responsibility to manage town property."

The rink renovations have already been approved by the Selectboard as a goal, it was noted.

All three reserve funds were approved with just a scattering of "No's."

Other Business

That was just about it for regular business. Under "Other Business" a number of topics came up, with animated discussion especially about the possibility of expanding the Police District and about Town Meeting itself.

Selectman Larry Townsend kicked off the latter discussion. Noting the lack of important business to transact on the floor of Town Meeting, he said "it makes me crave the days" before most issues were decided by Australian ballot.

In Randolph, most elections and all money matters are voted by Australian ballot instead of on the Town Meeting floor. This has caused smaller attendance at Town Meeting—but has allowed a larger number of people to cast yes/no ballots.

Townsend's plea, "Is this what you want?" elicited a variety of responses. Most agreed, however, that the legislature should change a law that forbids Australian ballot items from being discussed on the floor.

This law results, for instance, in a prohibition against discussing the town budget at Town Meeting. Hutchinson said that he and Rep. Patsy French have introduced a bill changing this law, and it's currently in the Government Operations Committee.

A previous bill went down in flames a few years ago, however.

No proposal for a town-wide police force was on the agenda or in the works; but when and if it comes, it will be deeply controversial. That much was clear Tuesday.

Former Selectman Al Floyd brought up the subject, and he elicited a promise from Hutchinson that the "current board" has guaranteed a town-wide vote on the idea of establishing a town-wide police force.

Another citizen said that the police force is already an asset to the whole town, and it's not fair that just village residents pay for it. He was contradicted by another, who noted that village people knew about the police tax when they bought their houses.

Other Topics

• Without mentioning her name, two speakers, Doering and Floyd, questioned the propriety of Dawn Butterfield's continuing to be on the selectboard while her husband Peter is serving as town manager.

Floyd said later that the issue has come up frequently around the stove at his general store.

Dawn Butterfield, however, said she has fielded no complaints and reiterated that her advice is that continuing on the selectboard is fully legal and appropriate, as long as she refrains from voting on certain measures.

• A complaint about the lack of hand-held microphonoes was made. At that point, Moderator Peter Nowlan remembered that the mikes were indeed portable, and from then on they were hustled to the speakers by Janet Watton and Tom Schersten, saving time.

• At the end of the meeting, Nancy Rice asked whether people wanted to talk about impeaching the president. Several raised their hands, but nobody actually said anything, and the meeting was adjourned.