Special Town Meeting tonight

The Charlton Board of Selectmen did in fact call another Special Town Meeting as promised, to attempt to pass the highway barn project again. I do have somewhat mixed feelings about it, as the town does need something, but the proposed project is rather expensive and would directly impact our taxes. But it may be cheaper in the long run than doing nothing and not taking good care of the millions and millions of dollars of equipment that would be stored there over the next many years. It’s certainly cheaper to do it now than it will be later when the economy recovers. I voted for it at the Oct. 28 Special Town Meeting, because their presentation convinced me. However, it was defeated 78y-52n (it needed a 2/3 majority), and so I voted against the related ballot question as it seemed too open-ended and it wasn’t clear what the consequences were if it passed. Since it did pass, and I voted for it before, it seems like I would vote for it again tonight. But I’m not sure, I guess because it’s still a lot of money.

Also on the warrant for tonight is a sex offender residency restriction bylaw. I definitely have mixed feelings about laws like that. It seems strange to me to restrict where people get to live, while at the same time I want my family and community protected from people who are possibly dangerous. My first instinct is that it makes people feel better while not actually doing a whole lot to protect anyone, but I’m really not sure.