Bedford’s Town Meeting had a fair turnout despite an ongoing blizzard. Conservatives should be fairly happy with the results.
It’s hard to beat incumbents like Melissa Stevens and Bill Duschatko who were re-elected to the Town Council. In addition, we welcome a new face, Phil Greazzo. Popular activist Denise Ricciardi received 88 votes in a last-minute write-in campaign.
Article 1:1 contained many different zoning adjustments that were deemed ‘housekeeping’. While there were a few objectionable changes, the general item PASSED.
Article 1:2 attempts to ban AirBNB but it is unenforceable. We say this because it could affect people who allow friends to stay at their homes temporarily while those friends search for their own homes after moving here. PASSED, but likely can’t be enforced.
Article 1:3 and 4 dealt with the type of signs to be allowed, to keep Bedford’s business highway from looking tacky. PASSED.
Article 1:5 lays out rules for accessory apartments, the kind of home additions that are used for in-laws, parents, students, etc but are not rented on the commerical market. These have been in existence for a long time, but now the town has decided to regulate them. PASSED.
Article 1:6 and 7 were rules restricting heights and requiring setbacks for cell towers which before, could have been erected on private property just about anywhere in town. PASSED.
Article 2:8 was an attempt to stop all competition for surgical centers in a zone where one already exists. The town’s ‘bully’ lobbied hard for its passage, but it went down almost 2-1. FAILED.
A total of 2,448 ballots were cast for the Town, which is 14% of the voting public. This is pathetic, but typical.
Incumbent Cindy Chagnon was re-elected to the School Board, and newcomer Jay Nash who is reportedly a conservative, was elected to fill the second spot.
Article 2: Voters approved spending $93,000 for an ‘Energy Efficiency Feasibility Study’. PASSED.
Articles 3: The new school budget requested $2 Million more than the default budget. Unfortunately this passed although by a slim margin of 1304 to 1103. Had there not been a major snowstorm, this might have been defeated and the default budget would have been put into play. Needless to say, we need to restore the law that requires all budgetary items to garner at least 75% of the vote in order to pass. PASSED.
Article 4: This article provided for the usual acceptance of gifts. PASSED.
Petitioned article for the food service to try to raise $20,000.00 to convert to recyclable lunch trays was approved. PASSED.
Once again, a total of 2,448 ballots were cast for the School, which is 14% of the voting public. This is pathetic, but typical.