CHESTERFIELD — Voters at Saturday’s annual Town Meeting chose to fund repairs to the Edwards Museum and decided to table an article that would have put a buffer between the Historic District and wireless communications facilities.
Select Board Chairman Roger Fuller said the meeting took about 3½ hours, and that he was told that attendance was in the 70s.
“It couldn’t have been actually a better weather day to have it,” Fuller said.
The meeting took place outside on the grounds of New Hingham Regional Elementary School.
Fuller said the meeting contained “nobig surprises” and that most of the 22 articles on the warrant, including a budget article of $3,954,916, passed.
Three of the articles dealt with repairs to the Edwards Museum and in the end, Article 16, which called for the transfer of $69,110 from free cash to make repairs using historically appropriate materials, was passed. The article was also successfully amended to specify the use of cedar siding and other repair specifics from Article 18, another repair article.
Article 17, which called for repairs to the museum using materials that would have included vinyl siding, was defeated, while Article 18 was withdrawn by its authors.
“I have been trying to get this building fixed since 2007,” said Dee Cinner, one of Article 18’s authors.
Article 19, a citizens petition that sought to make make cemetery commissioners elected positions, was defeated, while Article 20, which dealt with the powers of the cemetery commission, was withdrawn by its authors.
“They had technical flaws,” said Cinner, who was an author on both articles.
Cinner also said that Article 19 would have been nonbinding because of a flaw in its legal status.
Article 21 sought to put a 750-foot buffer between the National Park Service-designated Chesterfield Center Historic District and wireless communications facilities. Currently, such a buffer exists between such facilities and the town center. However, voters chose to table the article, which was put onto the warrant by the Historical Commission.
“It’s going to come right back,” said Cinner, who was involved in getting the article on this year’s warrant.
She said she expects it to be introduced again, and that the effort has been ongoing since 2013. Cinner also said that some people on the Planning Board are receptive.
“I’m not stopping,” she said.
Cinner also said she was happy that the town approved funding for a new website, which was passed in Article 2.
Article 22 allowed the meeting “To take up any other matter which may legally be brought before this meeting,” and Fuller used it to put forward a motion honoring Susan Labrie, who is retiring from her position as town administrator this year after holding it since 2011. The motion passed.
“With what she’s done for everybody … it was well-deserved,” Fuller said.
Fuller said that when Labrie took over the job from Charlene Nardi, who went on to become Williamsburg town administrator, she had big shoes to fill.
“These shoes that she’s leaving behind are much larger,” Fuller said.
In an interview, Labrie said that she “very much appreciated,” the motion.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.