CHARLEMONT — A $231,958 tax levy-limit override for Hawlemont Regional School’s operating budget was approved Tuesday in the voting booths and on the floor of an abbreviated Annual Town Meeting marked by three and a half hours of frustration and confusion about parliamentary procedure and warrant article language.
Ninety residents showed up at the school’s gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. to have their voices heard on 21 articles, but the meeting recessed after votes on the override and the town’s nearly $4.3 million budget. Voters are asked to reconvene at the gym at the same time on Tuesday, May 31, to take action on Article 5 as well as Articles 7 through 21.
The override votes mean Hawlemont will get the funding it needs following a $296,000 loss in tuition as a result of the withdrawal of Heath students from the Hawlemont Regional School District. Those students will now attend Colrain Central School. The override article adds $1.50 to the town’s tax rate.
Because the results carried the potential of having a large impact on the budget, vote counters seated around a table on the gym’s stage tallied the override ballots as the meeting commenced. During public discussion, Town Clerk Kathy Reynolds approached the podium to relay the override’s ballot results to Moderator Ron Smith, who informed attendees the measure passed by a simple majority with a vote of 102 to 100, with two blank ballots cast. The warrant article pertaining to the override was held via paper ballot after a required seven residents indicated they desired one. Once the votes were tallied, Smith announced the article failed because it did not receive a two-thirds majority with its 53 affirmative votes and 38 opposing votes.
Discussion transitioned to the town’s budget while Town Administrator Sarah Reynolds made a phone call to Attorney Jonathan Eichman of KP Law, Charlemont’s legal counsel, regarding a few matters and learned a two-thirds majority was not necessary on the override vote because the money is to be raised and appropriated. Reynolds relayed this information to Selectboard Chair Marguerite Willis, who took the microphone to inform the audience, being met with groans of irritation.
Reynolds had earlier called legal counsel to ask if money for the override article could be transferred from free cash. She learned it could, but that would effectively kill the warrant article pertaining to $350,000 for a new ambulance, which is planned to be funded using free cash as well.
During discussion of the override article, resident Anne Kaplan stood up to say Hawlemont Regional School is already hemorrhaging staff and a failure to adopt an override “would put another nail in the coffin.” She said families move to Charlemont for the school and its HAY (Hawlemont Agriculture and You) program. She stressed that the school and its staff need a showing of community support.
John Hoffman said he has heard people wonder if the town can afford the school.
“I don’t think we can afford not to have this school,” Hoffman said.
Willis, however, said she adamantly opposes an override, saying it is too much money to spend. She said Charlemont has the 10th highest tax rate in Massachusetts and more taxation is unsustainable. She also said asking for an override is insulting to taxpayers.
Richard Filoramo, Finance Committee chair, also voiced opposition to the override.
“This is just too much money to ask of the town,” he said from a table in the front of the gym where he sat with fellow committee members.
Shortly before the meeting was continued until next week, Ambulance Director Dana Johnson requested a moment of silence for the victims of the school shooting that claimed the lives of at least 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, earlier in the day.
Tuesday’s meeting was the first moderated by Ron Smith. He filled in for Charlotte Dewey, who was out of town.
Regarding the election, held from noon to 7 p.m., Valentine G. Reid unseated incumbent William D. Harker for a three-year term on the Selectboard by a vote of 117 to 64. Lori Ann Shulda Merrigan received 102 votes compared to Andrew Mueller’s 66 votes, earning her a three-year term on the Planning Board.
With all Hawlemont School Committee members having resigned, three candidates ran unopposed for staggered term lengths — so that only one committee member per year will come up for re-election. Former school psychologist Anne J. Kaplan ran for a three-year seat, receiving 159 votes; Cheryl L. Handsaker, who was appointed to the School Committee in April to fill Michael Walsh’s seat in an earlier resignation, got 153 votes for the two-year seat; and Elizabeth Van Iderstine gained the one-year term with 154 votes.
All other positions were uncontested, with three positions being decided by write-in votes. It was unclear as of Wednesday whether chosen write-in candidates would be accepting their positions.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or
413-772-0261, ext. 262.