It took almost five hours, replete with questions and comments, but Bedford’s Annual Town Meeting completed its business on Monday night with the 22-article warrant emerging almost unscathed.
Highlights of the session included approval of:
- Zoning bylaw amendment facilitating the construction of and conversion to two-family houses. Town Meeting waived the time limit for introducing additional articles to reach the zoning issue, which had been placed at the end of the warrant in an effort to sustain a quorum. The final tally was 137 to 48, comfortably over the two-thirds threshold required to pass.
- The fiscal 2024 budget of $109,573,714. There were questions on a number of line items, but schools, police and fire were not among them.
- Capital expenditures totaling $5,161,128, including $2,672,354 in bonded projects and items. One proposal in the capital budget failed – a $56,500 study on siting a second synthetic turf field. Several voters spoke in opposition, citing health and environmental concerns. No one spoke in favor of the proposal.
- A modest community preservation package for fiscal year 2024. The $1.4 million includes some $900,000 in payments for bonded projects.
Details will be reported later today.
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