WHATELY — Residents at a Special Town Meeting held outside the Town Offices on Saturday afternoon passed six of the seven articles on the warrant and passed over a zoning change because of a public hearing posting error made several months ago.
The article, which would have rezoned a parcel on State Road from the Agricultural-Residential District 1 to the Commercial District, was tabled because the Attorney General’s Office would not accept the change in zoning when it was submitted because of the posting error.
A public hearing notice is required whenever a zoning change is made and the notice omitted a phrase “indicating when and where the plan could be viewed,” according to both Assistant Town Clerk Lynn Sibley and Town Moderator Nathanael Fortune.
Sibley said this was the second time the town has made this error in the past year and it would be foolish to send it to the Attorney General’s Office just for it to get sent right back.
“It makes the town look silly,” Sibley said, “when you have the same exact omission two times in a row.”
The other six articles passed with little discussion among the handful of residents and town officials as the meeting wrapped up just 20 minutes after it started.
Residents approved $107,911 from free cash to make Herlihy Park more accessible through repaving the driveway and renovating the bathrooms. This appropriation, however, is expected to be only temporary because the town received a $62,588 Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities (PARC) grant. A condition of the grant requires the town to appropriate the full amount and be reimbursed later.
At next year’s annual Town Meeting, Town Administrator Brian Domina said voters will be asked to appropriate $45,324 in Community Preservation Act funds to the project, as well as to return the $107,911 that was being asked for at Saturday’s meeting. The state will provide half of those CPA funds, which means “80% of the project is state-funded.”
Domina said the reason for a Special Town Meeting was because the town needed to appropriate the Herlihly Park money before Dec. 31, otherwise the PARC grant would be voided.
Voters also approved $6,500 from the Community Preservation Fund to expand the existing ice rink between the Police and Fire stations on Christian Lane, which became a popular pandemic activity after its installation in January.
The money will fund the installation of rounded corners to the rink while expanding the length and width by 10 feet, as well as add a long-lasting rink liner, foam bumper cushions to soften falls and LED lights to allow for night skating. There will also be a 15-feet-by-30-feet “kiddie rink.”
Residents also approved $9,618.75 for the construction of a pumping station for the merger of the Whately Water District and Whately Water Department.