From the Town Administrator's Desk

ATM Budget Approvals
By Gregory T. Federspiel
April 18, 2025

A major focus for the Annual Town Meeting, scheduled for April 28 at the Memorial School gymnasium, is the approval of all the new budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. All registered voters are urged to attend the meeting in order to debate and vote on the proposed expenditures for the new fiscal year which begins on July 1, 2025. (The fiscal year extends to June 30, 2026 thus it is called the FY26 budget.) Resident voters serve as the Town’s legislative body and all expenditures must be approved by those in attendance at the Town Meeting (state law does not allow absentee voting or virtual participation.)

The first budget up for approval is for the North Shore Agricultural and Technical School District. Manchester’s share of the total budget is based on the number of students we send to the regional “voc-tech” school. Manchester’s enrollment has dropped from 13 down to 8 thus we have a smaller number for next year. Article 3 seeks voter approval of $176,418.

Article 4 is for the Town’s general operating budget. Funding for each department is presented with funding broken out between salaries for personnel and all other expenses. With the addition of 1.75 staff positions, a recommendation from the recently completed operations audit and a much higher increase for health insurance premiums total expenditures are 5.6% higher. However, this can be covered by 1.5% tax increase. Both the Finance Committee and the Select Board recommend approval of the proposed budget.

In Article 5 voters are asked to approve a list of capital expenditures. 20 of the 23 requests are recommended for approval by the FinCom and Select Board. Capital items range from road repaving to the design of a new ADA compliant restroom for the library. The cost of the 20 items comes to $4.215 million and paid for mostly by tax dollars and drawing down the Town’s fund balance. As part of the funding mix and as has been the Town’s practice lately, approval of a $660,000 capital exclusion is being requested, this time for the design of a new DPW facility.

The School District budget is contained in Article 6. Due to a spike in health insurance costs and higher salaries, Manchester voters are being asked to approve a 7.3% increase in funding to the District. Changes in enrollment between Essex and Manchester result in Essex facing over an 8% increase which necessitates a Proposition 2 ½ override at their Town Meeting and at the ballot. This request boosts the projected overall tax increase for FY26 to 3.5%

In Article 15, the recommendations of the Community Preservation Committee are presented for approval. A total of $897,100 is proposed for 10 projects with the two largest projects being $500,000 for the renovation of the Tuck’s Point Rotunda and $200,000 for the Affordable Housing Trust. 

The annual contribution, set at $330,000 for FY26, to the Town’s OPEB Trust account (other post employment benefits – retiree health insurance) is the subject of Article 16. The fund will be fully funding in a couple more years. 

While not an actual expenditure article, Article 17 asks voters to accept the Hero Act for Veterans which allows for various property tax exemptions for qualifying veterans to increase at the rate of annual inflation. Exemption costs are covered by the Town’s “overlay” account.

Finally, in Article 18, voters are being asked to approve the revolving funds established for the Parks and Recreation Department and the Board of Health. Revolving funds allow fees to be collected and used to fund the programs for which the fees are collected.

All 22 articles are spelled out in detail in the Finance Committee booklet that each household will receive. The booklet can also be found here.

Citizen Petition Articles at the ATM
By Gregory T. Federspiel
April 11, 2025

Three citizen petition articles were submitted on time to be included in the warrant for this year’s Annual Town Meeting. The three articles will be part of the 22 articles slated for action at the April 28th meeting at Memorial School starting at 6:30PM.

For an Annual Town Meeting a minimum of 10 signatures are required to place a citizen’s petition article on the warrant. Petitions are placed on the warrant as presented by the petitioners regardless of their legality. Explanations are provided during the meeting.

Article 19 asks voters to instruct the Board of Health to rescind their approval from this past November of a “Zero-Nicotine Generation” policy that bans the sale of nicotine products to anyone born after January 1, 2004. The ban means that even as adults those born after 2003 would not be allowed to purchase tobacco products in Town. The Board of Health, after holding a public hearing on the proposal, passed this new policy, which went into effect last week on April 1, based on the negative health impacts of using products with nicotine.

The Board of Health has statutory authority to adopt policies and regulations related to public health. While voters can express their preference through the citizen petition article, the vote is advisory only. The Board of Health retains the decision-making authority on this matter. The ATM vote is non-binding.

A second citizen petition article, Article 20, seeks a local ban on the use of second generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs.) These chemicals cause problems beyond the rodents they are intended to kill. For example, the chemicals are ingested by the predators that hunt rodents including many birds of prey and can be fatal for these animals as well.

These chemicals are controlled at the state level, and it will require a special act of the legislature to allow Manchester to institute its own ban. A yes vote will set in motion the process by which a special act will be sought. It will be up to the state legislature whether the requested special act is approved.

Article 21 is the third petition article. This article seeks to amend the Town’s construction noise bylaw by increasing the fines issued for violations. The proposal is to have a first offense be subject to a $500 fine and doubling on each infraction going forward. After 5 infractions a cease and desist order is proposed.

The maximum fines for violations of this type are set by the state at $300. Thus, if voters were to approve the proposed amendment to the Town’s construction bylaw, upon the

required review by the AG’s office, it would be disapproved given that it exceeds the statutory limits. This article will likely be passed over due to this conflict with state law.

These three petition articles are only a portion of the warrant. As explained last week, seven articles deal with proposed amendments to the zoning regulations. A more detailed look at the numerous articles dealing with aspects of town expenditures will be the subject of next week’s article. The complete warrant can be found on the Town’s web site. The Finance Committee report, which contains the full warrant, will be mailed to each household next week.

Proposed Zoning Amendments
By Gregory T. Federspiel
April 4, 2025

7 of the 22 articles on tap for the Annual Town Meeting, scheduled for April 28, propose amendments to the Town’s current zoning bylaws. The Planning Board holds a public hearing this coming Monday, April 7 starting at 6:30PM at Town Hall. Residents can also participate via Zoom.

Three of the proposed articles relate to ADUs – Accessory Dwelling Units. ADUs are self-contained living units with a separate entrance to the living space. They can be contained within a home or garage or be a stand-alone structure. ADUs are currently allowed under certain limited conditions and after the issuance of a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

In an effort to promote greater housing diversity and supply, a new state law requires that small ADUs be allowed by right where single family homes are allowed. However, communities can require site plan review under the new law. The Planning Board proposes deleting the existing zoning section on ADUs and add two new sections – one for “standard” ADU’s that complies with the new state law and one for larger ADU’s that still require a special permit. Both require site plan review. These are contained in Articles 8 and 9.

Standard ADU’s must be no larger than 900 square feet or half the size of the existing main dwelling, whichever is smaller. Large ADUs can be up to 1200 square feet. In neither case can the ADU be used for short term rentals as defined by the state (up to a 30 day rental) and leases must be for a minimum of 6 months. In both cases all dimensional requirements of the existing zoning must be met. Only one ADU, either standard or large, is permissible per lot. Existing driveways are to be used and for standard ADU’s one parking spot provided unless, per state law, the unit is within ½ a mile of the train station; 1.5 spaces are required for large ADUs.

If voters decide against these two proposals, the state law still applies and Manchester would have to allow the standard ADUs by-right without the additional site plan review safeguards. If the two proposals do not pass, a simple bylaw proposal will also be presented that prohibits ADUs from being used as short-term rentals. This third proposal, Article 10, is not necessary if the other two are approved.

Article 7 proposes to replace the existing Floodplain section of the zoning bylaws with a new section based on a new model bylaw the state recommends. The aim of this section is to prevent development from exacerbating flooding and to keep development out of harm’s way. In addition to the rewritten section, new flood maps developed through FEMA would be adopted.

The fifth zoning related article, Article 11, proposes to add two alternates to the Planning Board. Currently there are 7 elected members. It is proposed that two alternates be added by a joint appointment of the Planning Board and the Select Board (which is the same process for filling a vacancy between elections.) The alternate would be able to fill in for a member who is unable or unavailable to participate in a hearing of the Board. This avoids unnecessary delays in hearings and missed deadlines.

A sixth proposal, Article 12, aims to expand the applicability of site plan reviews. Currently various commercial expansions are not required to undergo site plan review and the Planning Board believes this should be corrected. Also, any alteration of land over an acre regardless of use would now trigger site plan review.

Lastly, in Article 13, the introduction to the Zoning regulations is proposed to be deleted. The current introduction contains outdated references and procedures. It is better to provide this explanatory information on the Town’s web site and in handouts outside of the bylaw so that the information is always current without having to go to the voters to amend the bylaw.

These zoning proposals are available on the Planning Board’s website. In addition to the formal public hearing planned for Monday, an informal information session will be held closer to the date of the Annual Town Meeting.

Town Meeting Warrant