Town Warrant
Special Town Meeting – Monday, April 7, 2008
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Barnstable, ss.
To
either of the Constables of the Town of Provincetown, Greetings:
In
the Name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and in the manner prescribed in the
Charter and By-laws of said Town, you are hereby directed to notify the
inhabitants of the Town qualified by law to vote in Town affairs to meet and
assemble at Provincetown Town Hall on
Monday the Seventh day of April, A.D. 2008 at 6:00 o’clock in the evening,
then and there to act on the following articles, to wit:
Article 1. FY 2008 Budget Adjustments. To see what amendments the Town will vote to make
to the Fiscal Year 2008 operating budgets and enterprise funds established under Articles
2 and 5 of the April 4, 2007 Annual Town Meeting and what sums the Town will
vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds therefor; or to take any other
action relative thereto.
[Requested by the Board of Selectmen and the Town
Manager]
Article 2. Wastewater Optimization and Expansion –
Borrowing Authorization. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate
and borrow the sum of $200,000 for additional connections and economic
development expansion of the sewer project; with said sum to be expended under
the direction of the Town Manager and the Director of Public Works for the
development of plans and specifications for optimization and expansion to the
Town’s sewerage systems, and including without limitation all costs defined
under C. 29C,§1 of the General Laws; and to raise said appropriation the Town
Treasurer, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, is authorized to borrow
said sum of money under and pursuant to C. 44, §7(1) and/or C.29C of the
General Laws, or any other enabling authority, and to issue bonds or notes of
the Town therefor; and that to the extent that any State, Federal or other
funds are or become available for the purposes set forth above, the Board of
Selectmen is authorized to apply for and accept such funds; and, further, the
Town votes to authorize the Water and Sewer Board to assess one hundred percent
of the project cost to the Town upon those who benefit from the project, such
assessments to be made by the Uniform Unit method as provided by General Laws
Chapter 83, Section 15; or to take any other action relative thereto.
[Requested by the Board of Selectmen
and the Town Manager]
Article 3. Water Department Block Grant. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate and
borrow the sum of $50,000 to be expended under the direction of the Town
Manager, the Director of Public Works and the Grant Administrator for the repairs
required for filtration at Knowles Crossing, and including without limitation
all costs defined under C. 29C,§1 of the General Laws; and to raise said
appropriation the Town Treasurer, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen,
is authorized to borrow said sum of money under and pursuant to C. 44, §7(1)
and/or C.29C of the General Laws, or any other enabling authority, and to issue
bonds or notes of the Town therefor; and that to the extent that any State,
Federal or other funds are or become available for the purposes set forth
above, the Board of Selectmen is authorized to apply for and accept such funds;
and, further, the Town votes to authorize the Water and Sewer Board to assess
one hundred percent of the project cost to the Town upon those who benefit from
the project, such assessments to be made by the Uniform Unit method as provided
by General Laws Chapter 83, Section 15;
or take any other action relative thereto.
[Requested
by the Town Manager and the Board of Selectmen]
Article
4. Fund Collective Bargaining Agreements. To
see what sums the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from the
2009 tax levy, or transfer from available funds to fund the collective
bargaining agreement reached with the Town and the IBPO; or take any other
action relative thereto.
[Requested by the Board of Selectmen
and the Town Manager]
Article
5. Aerial Photographs to Aid in
Correcting Assessor’s Maps/GIS Flyover. To see if
the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds
the sum of $23,000 under the direction of the Board of Selectmen
and Principal Assessor for the purpose of taking aerial photographs of the town
in order to replot buildings onto the Assessors Maps, or to take any other
action relative thereto.
[Requested by the Board of
Selectmen and the Town Manager]
Article 6. Noise
By-law. To see if the Town will
vote to amend section 13-2-6 of the General Bylaws, by deleting the current
text of section 13-2-6 in its entirety
and replacing it with the following:
13-2-6 EXCESSIVE
MUSICAL
Recognizing
that people have a right to and should be ensured an environment free from
excessive sound and vibration capable of jeopardizing their health, safety, or
welfare, or of degrading their quality of life, this section is enacted to
protect, preserve and promote the health, safety, welfare, and quality of life
of the citizens of Provincetown.
The following definitions
shall apply to Section 13-2-6:
dBA: A-weighted sound level in decibels, as measured by a
general purpose sound level meter complying with the provisions of the American
National Standards Institute, “Specifications for Sound Level Meters (
Amplification devices or
similar equipment, includes, but is
not limited to: phonograph, radio, television, stereo, record player, tape
player, cassette player, compact disk player, digital music player, “boom box”,
loud speaker, or other sound amplification device.
13-2-6-1. Noise Permitted By Person In Charge. No
person occupying or having charge of any building, premises (including public
places), mobile or stationary vehicle, or any part thereof, shall cause, suffer
or allow unnecessarily loud, excessive or unusual noise in Town, regardless of
its nature, source or manner of production or reproduction, including but not
limited to amplification devices or similar equipment, which cause or result in
a noise level measured as follows:
a) In any residential district, as defined by the Zoning
By-law , in excess of 45 dBA between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the
following day, or in excess of 55 dBA at all other hours, measured at a
distance from fifty (50) feet from the point of origin of the noise; and
b) In any commercial district, as defined by the Zoning
By-law, in excess of 65 dBA between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the
following day, or in excess of 75 dBA at all other hours, measured at a
distance from fifty (50) from the point of origin of the noise.
13-2-6-2. Noise caused or suffered by persons on
premises. No person present in or about any building,
dwelling, premises (including public places and property), shelter, mobile or
stationary vehicle, boat or conveyance (or any part thereof), other than that
section of any establishment licensed under G.L. c.138, shall cause, suffer, or
countenance any loud, unnecessary, excessive, or unusual noise, regardless of
its nature, source, or manner of production or reproduction, including but not
limited to amplification devices or similar equipment, which causes or results
in a noise level measured as follows:
a) In any residential district, as defined by the Zoning
By-law , in excess of 45 dBA between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the
following day, or in excess of 55 dBA at all other hours, measured at a
distance from fifty (50) feet from the point of origin of the noise; and
b) In any commercial district, as defined by the Zoning
By-law, in excess of 65 dBA between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the
following day, or in excess of 75 dBA at all other hours, measured at a
distance from fifty (50) from the point of origin of the noise.
13-2-6-3.
Construction and manufacturing activities.
No person shall operate or
permit the operation of any tools or equipment in construction, drilling,
blasting, mining, manufacturing or demolition work, or in preventive
maintenance work for public service utilities between the hours of 9:00 p.m.
and 7:00 a.m. the following day. The
terms of this section shall not apply to emergency work or repair work
performed by or for governmental entities or public service utilities, for
public safety and welfare.
13-2-6-4.
Domestic Power Tools. No person shall operate or permit the operation of
any saw, drill, sander, grinder, lawn or garden tool, lawn mower, or similar
device used outdoors in residential areas between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and
7:00 a.m. the following day.
13-2-6-5.
Penalty. A non-criminal disposition penalty will be assessed
of fifty ($50) dollars to the owner, sponsor and/or responsible party for each
offense under sections 13-2-6-1 through 13-2-6-4, above.
13-2-6-6. In
addition to the non-criminal disposition penalty stated above, any 'stationary
vehicle' or 'vessel' which violates 13-2-6-2 for a period of sixty (60) minutes
or more, or whose vehicle is determined to be malfunctioning by an officer of
the Provincetown Police Department, shall have said vehicle or vessel removed
to a location where the source of the noise can be extinguished. The cost
of removal and extinguishing of the source of the offending noise shall be paid
by the owner or claimant of the offending vehicle.
13-2-6-7. Waiver.
The Licensing Board may waive any part of this Noise Control bylaw for a
temporary licensed public event if, in the judgment and discretion of the
Licensing Board, the noise that the event will create in excess of the noise level
limits established under the Noise Control bylaw is offset by the benefits of
the event to the participants or the public and the noise of the event will not
cause undue hardship or disturbance to the surrounding area. Events covered by this bylaw will not extend
beyond midnight nor begin prior to 10 A.M.
The Licensing Board can stipulate any time it deems appropriate within
this time frame depending on the expected noise level and impact on surrounding
area. Residential private parties
limited to invitation only are not affected by this bylaw as they are not
licensed by the Licensing Board. They
are still governed as to noise or nuisance stipulations of these bylaws under
13-1-2 and 13-2-6. The Licensing Board
may impose, on the grant of a temporary waiver, terms and conditions
appropriate to reduce the impact of the noise level exception. An application for a temporary waiver shall
be filed with the Town Clerk. The applicant
shall certify that notice of such temporary waiver application has been
provided to all properties contiguous, or likely to be affected by the event,
to the property where the event will occur.
The applicant must also place a notice in the local media advising of
the request for waiver at least two weeks prior to any hearing on the waiver by
the Licensing Board. The applicant shall
further certify that the Police Department has been consulted with respect to
the event and has approved as to form the application for a waiver with the understanding
that once the event is in process, complaints could arise necessitating action
on the part of the Police, i.e., immediate consultation with the applicant to
ameliorate the sound conditions if the complaints are numerous and clearly
justified in the discretionary opinion of the responding Police. The application for a temporary waiver
affects all public events likely to produce sound levels that will affect the
average person in a negative manner and in no instance will a waiver
application be considered by the Licensing Board less than 60 days preceding
any event. Applicants may receive more
than one waiver in a year but the Licensing Board may recall any applications
during the event year if complaints exceed the benefit to the public as determined
by the Licensing Board as advised by the Police Department. The Licensing Board may suspend, modify or
revoke any temporary waiver if it determines that an applicant has violated the
terms or conditions of the waiver.
13-2-6-8. Disturbing the Peace/Nuisances. Nothing
herein shall be construed as permitting conduct that would otherwise constitute
a disturbance of the peace under G.L. c. 269, §1, G.L. c. 272, §53, or other
applicable provision of state law.
Nothing herein shall be construed as permitting conduct that would
otherwise violate the provisions of General By-laws Section 13-1-2, relative to
nuisances of noises.
13-2-6-9. Exemptions.
The following are exempted
from the provisions of Section 13-2-6 and shall not be considered unnecessarily
loud, excessive or unusual noise for purposes of this section:
1. Noise from
law enforcement motor vehicles;
2. Noise from
emergency vehicles or emergency equipment which is audible during an actual
emergency;
3. Noise from
Town-sponsored events or activities;
4. Nonamplified
crowd noises resulting from organized activities such as at school sporting
events; and
5. Ferry
whistles.
13-2-6-10.
Severability. If any provision or subsection of this Section shall
be held to be invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, then such provision
or subsection shall be considered separately and apart from the remaining
provisions or subsections of this section, which shall remain in full force and
effect;
or
to take any other action relative thereto.
[Requested by the Board of Selectmen and the
Town Manager]
Article
7. Prior Year Bills. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
or transfer from available funds the amount of $376.31 for the purpose of
paying prior year unpaid bills; or take any other action thereto.
[Requested by the Board of Selectmen and the Town
Manager]
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TOWN OF PROVINCETOWN
Mary-Jo Avellar,
Chairman
Michele Couture,
Vice-Chairman
Austin Knight
Pam Parmakian
Lynne Davies
A TRUE COPY, ATTEST:
Douglas Johnstone
Town Clerk
Date of Posting: March 20, 2008