EXPLANATIONS
FOR  ANNUAL TOWN MEETING
WARRANT ARTICLES
MAY 27TH, 2008

 

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ARTICLE 2
This article is inserted in the Warrant for any Town Meeting when there are unsettled labor contracts. Town Meeting must approve the funding for any collective bargaining agreements.

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ARTICLE 3
This article authorizes the Town Treasurer to enter into Compensating Balance Agreements, which are agreements between a depositor and a bank in which the depositor agrees to maintain a specified level of non-interest bearing deposits in return for which the bank agrees to perform certain services for the depositor. In order to incorporate such compensating balance agreements into the local budget process, the Commonwealth passed a law in 1986 mandating that all such arrangements be authorized by Town Meeting on an annual basis.

 

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ARTICLE 4
Section 2.1.4 of the Town's By-Laws requires that each Annual Town Meeting include a warrant article showing the status of all special appropriations.


 

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ARTICLE 5
This article is inserted in the Warrant for every Town Meeting in case there are any unpaid bills from a prior fiscal year that are deemed to be legal obligations of the Town. Per Massachusetts General Law, unpaid bills from a prior fiscal year can only be paid from current year appropriations with the specific approval of Town Meeting.
 

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ARTICLE 6
This article provides for an increase in the property tax exemptions for certain classes of individuals, including surviving spouses, the elderly, the blind, and disabled veterans. The proposed increases, which require annual reauthorizations, have been approved annually since FY89.
 

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ARTICLE 7
The purpose of this article is to make any year-end adjustments to the current year (FY08) budget.
 

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ARTICLE 8
This is the annual appropriations article for FY2009. Included in this omnibus budget article are operating budgets, special appropriations, enterprise funds, revolving funds, and conditions of appropriation. This is the culmination of work that officially began with the presentation of the Town Administrator’s Financial Plan on February 12th. The proposed budget has since been reviewed by numerous sub-committees of the Advisory Committee, the full Advisory Committee, and the Board of Selectmen. The vote ultimately recommended to Town Meeting is offered by the Advisory Committee.
 

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ARTICLE 9
We, the Petitioner and signatories to this article, believe the Town is at minimum levels of staffing and equipment for the Fire Service and any further reduction or cuts will result in risks to the public safety of firefighters, residents and property. This article is submitted to prevent these risks and to insure the safety of the public.
 

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ARTICLE 10
In 1999 the Town of Brookline created the Retiree Health Trust Fund for the purpose of accumulating assets that would support future retiree health benefit costs. The language of the Trust placed the assets under the control of the Town. A newly adopted Government Accounting Standard (GASB 43) recommends that the control of the Retiree Health Trust Fund be transferred from the Town to an independent Board. This structure would protect the assets of the trust fund from any liability claims that could be made against the Town. The purpose of the Warrant article is to place the town in compliance with GASB 43. The adoption of this standard would allow the Town to calculate their unfunded liability based upon rates of return of the stock market rather than bank interest rates which would reduce the unfunded liability significantly.
 

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ARTICLE 11
G.L. c.59, s.5, Clause Fifty-fourth allows a town to exempt certain personal property from taxation and provides as follows:

Fifty-fourth. Personal property, if less than an amount established by the city or town, but not in excess of $10,000 of value. This clause shall take effect upon its acceptance by a city or town, which shall establish a minimum value of personal property subject to taxation and may modify the minimum value by vote of its legislative body.

Based on a review of the Town’s personal property accounts, a desire to create tax administration cost efficiencies and a desire to provide tax relief to Brookline’s small business owners, the Board of Assessors voted at their regularly scheduled meeting on January 22, 2007 to recommend to the Board of Selectmen, that the Town of Brookline adopt the provisions of G.L. c. 59, § 5, clause 54, which allows a city or town to exempt certain personal property accounts, the minimum value of which cannot be more than $10,000. For fiscal year 2009, Board of Assessors voted to recommend an exemption amount of $5,000.

The small personal property exemption must be approved by a vote of the Town’s legislative body prior to the beginning of the fiscal year the exemption is to take effect or for a fiscal year stated within the article of acceptance.

The Town has a total of 1,141 personal property accounts with a total assessed value of $128,054,780. There are 838 accounts (73%) with an assessed value of $10,000 or less and 656 (57%) accounts with an assessed value of $5,000 or less. The FY08 total assessed value of the 656 accounts is $1,309,670, 1.0% of the total. The FY08 tax amount for the 656 accounts is $21,871.

The Assessors will continue to track each of these accounts and continue to request that each file a Form of List with the assessors on an annual basis with any additions to their assets in Brookline. The tax exempted would be shifted to all other taxpayers proportionately.
 

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ARTICLE 12
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 59, Section 5K provides as follows:

Chapter 59: Section 5K. Property tax liability reduced in exchange for volunteer services; persons over age 60
Section 5K. In any city or town which accepts the provisions of this section, the board of selectmen of a town or in a municipality having a town council form of government, the town council or the mayor with the approval of the city council in a city may establish a program to allow persons over the age of 60 to volunteer to provide services to such city or town. In exchange for such volunteer services, the city or town shall reduce the real property tax obligations of such person over the age of 60 on his tax bills and any reduction so provided shall be in addition to any exemption or abatement to which any such person is otherwise entitled and no such person shall receive a rate of, or be credited with, more than the current minimum wage of the commonwealth per hour for services provided pursuant to such reduction nor shall the reduction of the real property tax bill exceed $750 in a given tax year. It shall be the responsibility of the city or town to maintain a record for each taxpayer including, but not limited to, the number of hours of service and the total amount by which the real property tax has been reduced and to provide a copy of such record to the assessor in order that the actual tax bill reflect the reduced rate. A copy of such record shall also be provided to the taxpayer prior to the issuance of the actual tax bill. Such cities and towns shall have the power to create local rules and procedures for implementing this section in any way consistent with the intent of this section.
In no instance shall the amount by which a person’s property tax liability is reduced in exchange for the provision of services be considered income, wages, or employment for purposes of taxation as provided in chapter 62, for the purposes of withholding taxes as provided in chapter 62B, for the purposes of workers’ compensation as provided in chapter 152 or any other applicable provisions of the General Laws, but such person while providing such services shall be considered a public employee for the purposes of chapter 258, but such services shall be deemed employment for the purposes of unemployment insurance as provided in chapter 151A.

The statute permits the Board of Selectmen to establish a property tax work-off program for taxpayers over 60 years old. Under the program, qualified participating taxpayers volunteer their services to the Town in exchange for a reduction in their tax bills. If locally accepted, the current amount a community can abate is $750.00 in taxes. The abatement would be granted by the Board of Assessors based on a Certificate of Service issued by a Town department head supervising the volunteer services. The credit earned for worked performed could be at a rate no more than the state’s minimum wage (current at $8.00 per hour). Qualifying taxpayers retain their eligibility for other statutory exemptions including the residential exemption. The Town’s program can set the income limits to be imposed. The Board of Assessors & Council on Aging is recommending a limit of $40,000 household income be adopted. There would be no asset limit requirements. Program volunteers performing services in return for property tax reductions would be considered employees for purposes of municipal tort liability. Earned reductions will be applied to the actual tax bill for the fiscal year, not the preliminary (1st & 2nd quarter) tax bills. The amount of the property tax reduction earned by the taxpayer under this program is not considered income or wages for purposed of state income tax withholding, unemployment compensation or workman’s compensation. The IRS has ruled, however, that the abatement amount will be included in the taxpayer’s gross income for both federal income tax and FICA tax purposes.

The Board of Selectmen would establish the program and direct the Assessors and the Council on Aging to oversee this program as a pilot for Fiscal Year 2009, limiting the number of participants to 20. The pilot program would be administered by the COA. Placement by the COA will be decided based on the match of the applicant’s skills with the interests of the various participating town departments. Applicants will have the right to refuse placements or defer placement pending the possibility of other opportunities. However, there will be no guarantee that other positions will become available. The maximum cost of the program to the Town for FY2009 would be $15,000 and be funded through the overlay reserve account.

 

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ARTICLE 13
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 59, Section 5, Clause 41A, permits a person 65 years of age or older who has owned his/her home for at least five years and whose annual gross receipts do not exceed $40,000 and who resides in that home to apply to the Assessors to defer all or a part of their real property from taxation. The Board of Assessors may grant such an exemption if the owner is qualified and enters into a tax deferral and recovery agreement which provides among other things that

“no sale or transfer of the real property may be consummated unless the taxes which would otherwise have been assessed on such portion of the real property as is so exempt have been paid, with interest at the rate of eight per cent per annum or such lesser rate as may be determined by the legislative body of the city or town…” G.L.c.59, s.5, cl.41A.

The purpose of the warrant article is to encourage senior citizens who may have income limits to participate in the Tax Deferral Program. The program should allow seniors who may be on a fixed income to remain in their homes.
 

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ARTICLE 14
This zoning amendment is being submitted by the Planning and Community Development Department with the support of the Zoning By-law Committee. In 2007, Spring Town Meeting approved a new “F” or three-family zoning district for approximately 90 parcels near Coolidge Corner that limited development to three dwelling units per lot. This new F-1.0 zone was designed to serve as a middle ground between two-family (T) zones and multi-family (M) zones and stemmed from the recommendations of the Coolidge Corner planning process.

At the time of the zoning change, the new three-family (F) district was not added to several sections of the Zoning By-Law that refer to residential zones. To rectify this, the following technical changes are recommended and all, except one, group the new F zone with regulations that apply to single-family (S) and two-family (T) zones. The Planning and Community Development Department believes this is appropriate because the newly established F zones are more closely related to S and T zones, than M zones. A three-family dwelling is typically more similar to a single- or two-family dwelling than a large apartment building.

The only exception to adding the F zones to the regulations for S and T zones is a section that relates to the parking requirement for conversions of a single- or two-family dwelling or more additional dwelling units. The Planning Department believes that the parking waiver should be available in F zones for several reasons: for an existing single- or two-family dwelling adding a third unit, the lot size and shape of the structure may make it impossible to meet the stringent parking requirement for a three-family dwelling, which can be as high as seven spaces; a flexible parking requirement would encourage reuse of buildings and discourage tear downs; more open space would be preserved on the lot; and the Board of Appeals would have the opportunity to evaluate how many parking spaces are appropriate for a particular lot, after considering on a case-by-case basis, among other things, access to public transit. Although the Board can waive up to half the parking spaces required, in many cases in the past, they have waived only one or two parking spaces. With the proposed amendment change, the parking requirements for the F zoned properties, all of which were formerly in the M zone, would remain unchanged to a three-family dwelling. Here, the Planning Department believes, and the Zoning By-Law Committee concurs, it would be better to allow the flexibility of a parking waiver that is currently available for conversions in M, L and G districts. Section 6.01.2.a allows the Board of Appeals to waive not more than half of the required parking spaces by special permit when an existing dwelling in an M, L or G district is converted for one

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ARTICLE 15
Click here for PDF explanation

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ARTICLE 16
This article would reduce the gross floor area allowed for medical office use at 2 Brookline Place to lower the negative impact of increased traffic.

In October 2003 Howard/Stein-Hudson representing Winn Development presented a Transit Demand Management (TDM) study concluding that 426 spaces – with no reduction in spaces for proximity to public transit – would be needed for office use. The study further promoted the concept that this could be lowered to 354 spaces using Transit Demand Management (TDM).

The current proposal by Children’s Hospital calls for 624 parking spaces if 90,000 square feet is used for medical offices. There was no discussion of medical office use when the special district for General Medical Research (GMR 2.0) zone was voted in 2004.

This warrant article would reduce the gross floor area for medical office use from the proposed 90,000 square feet to 40,000 square feet. Under the current zoning by-law, this would lower the required parking spaces for medical office use (250 square feet is now required for each parking space) from 360 to 160. Assuming the 50,000 square foot reduction were used for general office use, 83 spaces would be added, for a net decrease of 138 parking spaces. This level does not meet the parking level originally proposed, but is a moderate attempt to mitigate the impact of medical office use.

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ARTICLE 17
This amendment to the Town Bylaws is written to address a very specific situation. It is narrowly tailored to affect only the granting of bonus height to a developer when the additional height casts a significant shadow on residential dwellings. The fact of a shadow merely touching the property of a resident, for example, will not trigger the invocation of this subsection. Additionally, this subsection will not in any way affect business districts not in close, tight proximity to residential neighborhoods.

If the subsection is triggered, it adds a responsibility on the developer that considers the harm done to the residences affected by the shadow. The subsection attempts to ameliorate the significant harm done to neighborhoods by recognizing that the developers’ gain is directly related to the neighborhood’s detriment. This subsection also indicates that the people paying the high price for the developer’s windfall must be considered and such consideration must be substantial and direct.

The “comparative value” clause of paragraph one of the subsection recognizes that in these extreme situations where development is so close in proximity and highly invasive to a neighborhood, bonus height comes with a fairly valued price tag. The price is reflective of the enormous benefit received by the developer and enormous harm caused by the bonus to the neighborhood.

Paragraph three of the subsection is simply recognition that a shadow cast on a residence for one month of a year is an extremely heavy burden for a neighborhood to bear. It indicates several ramifications. If such a shadow is cast for such a significant period of time, the project is, more probably than not, too large for the area. It is likely a towering structure that will dominate the neighborhood affecting many other aspects of life than sunlight. Such a large, out-of-place building may block the view of the sky altogether, not just the sun. While it removes light in the day, it adds it artificially and undesirably at night. It affects privacy, increases heating bills, electric bills, and more. It slows snow and ice melting in the winter making sidewalks and roads dangerous. Paragraph three recognizes that such massive burdens should not be forced on a neighborhood without a significant legal showing by the developer.

Paragraph four of the subsection estops a developer from claiming that since the as-of-right (non-public benefits) height casts a shadow as well, the addition of the bonus height is not significant. This recognizes that shadows will be cast in some way whenever property is developed and that we all recognize there is a price to pay for improving Brookline. But here the amendment emphasizes that the price paid by neighborhoods is not limitless.
 

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ARTICLE 18
The Brookline Arts Center has submitted a grant to the Massachusetts Historical Commission for funds to complete a conditions report for the old chemical firehouse building. Built in 1886 from the designs of Peabody & Stearns, it served until 1964 when the company was transferred to Babcock Street. It was remodeled and became the Brookline Arts Center in 1968. It is a contributing property in the Longwood National Register District.

In order to assess its condition and develop a Master Plan for future use and rehabilitation, the Arts Center has applied for Massachusetts Preservation Projects Funding. (It is the same grant that restore the top of the hill at Larz Anderson Park). In order to qualify for funding, a temporary preservation restriction is required. The restriction would be for 5 years less than $15,000 awarded.
 

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ARTICLE 19
 The Brookline Preservation Commission has applied for a matching grant to conduct a conditions assessment of the 1848 Brookline Reservoir Gate House (aka “Sportsman’s Club”) at the intersection of Warren and Boylston Streets. Long vacant, this building is proposed to be used by the Brookline Parks & Recreation Department. The conditions study is necessary to evaluate the deteriorating condition of the historic wrought iron roof truss-the oldest surviving example in the United States. Its condition must be evaluated to arrest deterioration that, if not addressed, will eventually lead to structural failure. (For decades failed built-in gutters have drained all rain unto the building.) The report will also evaluate the condition of the masonry that holds back the water in the Brookline Reservoir. The building incorporates a twenty-six foot high masonry wall through which pass three original, 160 year old, very large cast iron pipes which are the means of draining the reservoir. These pipes once supplied a million gallons a day to Boston. They have been under water and under constant pressure since its construction in 1848 and the condition of both the wall and pipes should be systematically analyzed. The original valves in the building are frozen as a result of which some have been cut through. A requirement of the matching grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission is to enter into a preservation restriction on the building for five years.
 

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ARTICLE 20
This article is inserted in the warrant at the request of H. Toby Brendze who offers the following explanation. Ms. Brendze owns the undeveloped lot adjacent to 150 Princeton Road which was created by virtue of a 1955 subdivision approval. In order to create access to the undeveloped lot, known as Lot 7 and shown as Lot 2 on Mr. Porter's February 23,2007 "Roadway Upgrading Plan," the Planning Board approved the extension of the paved portion of Princeton Road including a turnaround on Lot 7 itself. After consultation with Town Counsel and the Town Engineer, it was decided that an easement was necessary to allow municipal vehicles to utilize the turnaround on Lot 7. The Planning Board made its approval of the upgrade subject to the condition that prior to the issuance of a building permit for construction of a dwelling on Lot 7, acceptance by Town Meeting and evidence of recording of an easement to the Town over the turnaround on Lot 7 for municipal vehicles was necessary.

 

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ARTICLE 21
Most Town by-laws require that members of Town committees be Town “residents” or “citizens”.* However, a small number of committees have no such written requirement, apparently due to unintended oversight. To ensure consistency and remove any possibility of potential confusion, this article proposes that all voting members of all committees be registered voters of Brookline and that this be codified by Town by-law.

*(Examples: Building Commission, Brookline Commission for Women, Council on Aging, Economic Development Advisory Board, Housing Advisory Board, Human Relations-Youth Resources Commission, Preservation Commission.)
 

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ARTICLE 22
A fall 2006 amendment of Section 3.1 of the Town By-Laws regulating selectman campaigns called upon the Town Clerk to prepare a Town Campaign Finance Report form to be used by candidates in reporting campaign contributions and expenditures. While working together on drafting this form, the Town Clerk and the new Committee on Campaigns discovered discrepancies between the By-Law amendment and the State campaign finance reporting requirements, which this article is intended to eliminate.

The wording describing the beginnings and ends of two reporting periods is changed to be more comprehensive and to closely track or, in the case of the new Town report due 15 days before the election, be consistent with that of MGL ch. 55: sec. 18.
 

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ARTICLE 23
What prompted the reinstatement of the Town being responsible for the plowing and sanding of sidewalks in residential districts is the following:

The sidewalks are public property. Shoveling public sidewalks should not be the burden of homeowners. There are cases of homeowners having heart attacks shoveling snow. Homeowners do not have the capabilities nor the equipment to remove ice or hard packed snow. To prevent a slip and fall accident on icy sidewalks, people may have to walk on the street, which is dangerous, to go shopping, deep a doctors appointment, or for any other reasons. Many homeowners cannot afford to pay for ice and snow removal on top of their high taxes. Brookline people deserve the safety and quality of life, to be able to take a walk on sidewalks, especially the elderly, handicapped and children. This should be a top priority for the protection and safety of the Town’s people. As we understand, Brookline is the second highest taxed town in the state.

Under proper business leadership, this could have been done, and can be done without any increase in taxes.
 

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ARTICLE 24
The Park and Recreation Commission has discussed the fine structure for dog control violations with dog owners, non-dog owners, the Police Department and the Green Dog Advisory Committee and has found that the existing fine structure that commences with a $15.00 fine is inadequate. The Commission feels that an increase in the graduated fine structure will be more persuasive than the existing fine structure.

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ARTICLE 25
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/mathline/concepts/president/activity1.shtm
 

The chart in Figure 2 shows the value of money between 1800 and 1999. It illustrates that $100 in 1999 had less value than in previous years. For example, $100 in 1999 is the equivalent of $10 in 1920.

People have written laws so that they might know their rights and secure justice through the courts. Article 1, Section 10, U.S. Constitution states:
No State shall emit Bills of Credit; (or) make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts;

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ARTICLE 26
“The U.S. Government recently conceded that vaccines caused a child to become autistic and the child is entitled to compensation,” (Kirby 2008). Health initiatives should “Do No Harm” to human health. Scientific Studies document a positive correlation between Thimerosol and increased risk for Autism and Alzheimer’s Disease. Analysis of the effects of mercury in vaccines on infant monkeys does reveal the accumulation of inorganic Hg (mercury) in the neurological tissues can cause neurodegenerative diseases consistent with autistic spectrum disorder. Thousands of dollars have been paid out in vaccine injury claims. Numerous doctors are facing numerous Autism-Related Malpractice suits. (see Dr. Stephen Edelson Facing Third Autism-Related Malpractice Suit). In order to protect the town from unnecessary litigation, all harmful toxins must be removed from town administered Influenza vaccines and sprays.

In addition, on February 25, 2008, The Huffington Post writer, David Kirby, in his article, ‘US Government Concedes Vaccine-Autism Case in Fed. Court’ reports:

(Excerpts)
The US government has made an unprecedented concession in Federal Court:
Vaccines caused a child to become autistic and the child is entitled to compensation.

After years of insisting there is no evidence to link vaccines with the onset of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the US government has quietly conceded a vaccine-autism case in the Court of Federal Claims.
The claim, one of 4,900 autism cases currently pending in Federal "Vaccine Court," was conceded by US Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler and other Justice Department officials, on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services, the "defendant" in all Vaccine Court cases. The child's claim against the government -- that mercury-containing vaccines were the cause of her autism -- was supposed to be one of three "test cases" for the thimerosal-autism theory currently under consideration by a three-member panel of Special Masters, the presiding justices in Federal Claims Court.
Keisler wrote that medical personnel at the HHS Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation (DVIC) had reviewed the case and "concluded that compensation is appropriate" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/government-concedes-vacci_b_88323.html).

Republican Presidential candidate, John McCain:
McCain: “It’s indisputable that (autism) is on the rise amongst children, the question is what’s causing it. And we go back and forth and there’s strong evidence that indicates that it’s got to do with a preservative in vaccines.” – John McCain March 4, 2008
http://www.knowledgedrivenrevolution.com/Articles/200802/20080204_ISS_4_Education.htm
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell (1872-1970) was a renowned British philosopher and mathematician who was an adamant internationalist and worked extensively on the education of young children. He was the founder of the Pugwash movement which used the spectre of Cold War nuclear annihilation to push for world government. Among many other prizes, Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950 and UNESCO’s (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) Kalinga prize in 1957.
Internationalist, Bertrand Russell, 1952 (p56) advocated partial chemical lobotomies
"Scientific societies are as yet in their infancy. It may be worthwhile to spend a few moments in speculating as to possible future developments of those that are oligarchies.

It is to be expected that advances in physiology and psychology will give governments much more control over individual mentality than they now have even in totalitarian countries. Fichte laid it down that education should aim at destroying free will, so that, after pupils have left school, they shall be incapable, throughout the rest of their lives, of thinking or acting otherwise than as their schoolmasters would have wished. But in his day this was an unattainable ideal: what he regarded as the best system in existence produced Karl Marx. In future such failures are not likely to occur where there is dictatorship. Diet, injections, and injunctions will combine, from a very early age, to produce the sort of character and the sort of beliefs that the authorities consider desirable, and any serious criticism of the powers that be will become psychologically impossible. Bertrand Russell, “The Impact of Science on Society”, 1953, ...
nationalwriterssyndicate.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=341


To expect a personality to survive the disintegration of the brain is like expecting a cricket club to survive when all of its members are dead.
- [Brain]

We are faced with the paradoxical fact that education has become one of the chief obstacles to intelligence and freedom of thought.
- [Education]

Additional Information: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1721109,00.html

Case Study: Autism and Vaccines

Monday, Mar. 10, 2008 By CLAUDIA WALLIS
Time/CNN

Excerpts:

Government health officials have conceded that childhood vaccines worsened a rare, underlying disorder that ultimately led to autism-like symptoms in Hannah, and that she should be paid from a federal vaccine-injury fund.
W.A.Harewood /







Hannah Poling, left, stands with her parents Terry and Jon Poling, right, at a news conference in Atlanta on March 6, 2008.

“… Hannah Poling is hardly unique in the world of autism. She had an uneventful birth; she seemed to be developing normally … then, right after receiving … vaccines, she fell ill … lost …words, … eye contact and, … began exhibiting the repetitive behaviors and social withdrawal that typify autism …”

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ARTICLE 27
On February 6, 2008 the Naming Committee voted unanimously to name the new park at the Newton Street Landfill “Skyline Park”. This name was recommended by a unanimous Park and Recreation Commission. The park was officially opened to the public in March 2008. The park comprises approximately 15.15 acres of active and passive recreation park amenities for all ages and abilities. The park provides the first Town athletic field suitable for high school soccer tournaments, playground structures for older children and tots, picnic areas, a comfort station, restored wetlands, scenic walking trails and connections to the Lost Pond Nature Sanctuary.

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ARTICLE 28
On November 1, 2007 the Naming Committee for the Town of Brookline voted unanimously to change the name of Philbrick Square to Philbrick Green. This change was recommended by Dennis DeWitt a member of the Preservation Commission.

In 1889 Edward Philbrick’s heirs hired Olmsted’s firm to complete the subdivision of their estate. Olmsted’s drawing split Upland Rd around one house lot, which was numbered, like any other. It became a public space when in 1901 the town and some civic minded neighbors each raised $2,500 to buy it from an abutter.

The Town named it “Philbrick Sq.” but put up no sign. To the vast majority of Pill Hill neighbors it was just “The Green.” — consistent with its character as a simple greensward lacking park-like embellishments. (Two benches were installed by the neighborhood association in the 1980s.) The Pill Hill community has held its annual “Picnic on the Green” for over half a century. Each Christmas Eve neighbors of all faiths have long gathered for “Caroling on the Green.” The Brookline Greenspace Alliance website has variously referred to the Green as “The Upland Green (the neighborhood’s name for the space)” and as “The Upland Road Triangle, also known as Philbrick Square.”

Just before last year’s Picnic on the Green a “Philbrick Square” sign appeared — surprising neighbors who only knew it as “The Green.” At the Picnic 41 neighbors — an overwhelming majority of those present — signed a petition asking that its official name be "Philbrick Green." Only two who were asked declined. When the petition was presented to the Naming Committee, there was a concern that the whole neighborhood had not been polled. The proponents and the High Street Hill Association developed a “Square or Green” poll using the Association’s newsletter and website. The final tally, combining petition names and web votes, with some changes of mind in both directions, was 75 for Philbrick Green & 36 for Philbrick Square. The total for internet voting was 43 for "Philbrick Green" and 36 for "Philbrick Square". At the Association’s next board meeting, its President said the vote was final and the Association's role finished. The matter was also forwarded to both the Park and Recreation Commission and the Preservation Commission who took no position on the name change.

One concern raised against the change was that “Square” was “historic.” According to “Green” proponents, most neighbors felt “Philbrick” was historic but “Square” was not. Other comments quoted by the proponents were that a great many neighbors noted its shape is distinctly triangular, not square; that some thought of "squares" as hard and urban; and that a typical comment called it “our community lawn.”

Another concern raised was that the town already had an “historic” Town Green at the west end of Walnut St. Current Preservation Commission research suggests that Brookline never had a “Green” or “Common” in the normal sense of those terms. Brookline’s only “Common” was Boston Common. What is now called Town Green was basically a schoolhouse site — which the town acquired as late as 1793, when the Hyslop family donated the “triangular plot of land in the fork in the road” (Walnut St.). where town then built a brick schoolhouse, replacing a prior wood one. The adjacent First Parish Church site was sold to the town, for church use, even later, in 1805. It may be that the name “Village Green” was coined for that site in a 1910 patriotic-historical D.A.R magazine article — and that name perhaps later became “Town Green”. The 1905 Bi-Centennial monument on Town Green refers only to “this spot.” The term “Town Green” does not appear on town atlases until 1927.

Lastly, the Parks Department says it can easily change the sign from “Philbrick Square” to “Philbrick Green.”

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ARTICLE 29
On April 25, 2000, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to join the Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) campaign of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). Brookline was one of the first municipalities in the country to do so.

The Cities for Climate Protection campaign began in 1993, and is a five-step program that engages municipalities around the world in reducing the pollution that causes global warming. To complete the first step in the CCP program, the town prepared a baseline inventory of all greenhouse gas emissions. It then established an emissions reduction target, and prepared a Local Action Plan on Climate Change. In February 12, 2002. the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to approve the Local Action Plan, setting a goal for 2010 of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases by Town government, commercial establishments, and individuals to 20% below 1995 levels.

Since 2002, the Town has been engaged in the fourth step of the CCP program, implementation of the Local Action Plan. Because of the excellent work of Town staff, much has been done. But much remains to be done. And, during the past five years, there has been little systematic follow-through on the plan. The original Town Climate Task Force created with the Local Action Plan should be restructured to ensure effective implementation of agreed upon cost-saving improvements, updating and revising of the plan, coordination of effort among various Town departments, and progress to the fifth step of the CCP program—monitoring and verification of results.

In the coming decade, we will begin to experience the significant costs of climate change. The town must act now to strengthen its commitment both to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to developing adaptive responses to global warming.

For more information, see:
http://www.townofbrooklinemass.com/Conservation/climatechange.html
http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=1118

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ARTICLE 30
The Override Study Committee has recommended that the Town join the State’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC) as a means of controlling group health cost, a significant factor for the Town’s long term financial stability. The GIC covers some 250,000 state, county, and even some local employees/retirees. For example, the employees of the Brookline Housing Authority have long received their insurance through the GIC. During the past several years while municipalities have generally been experiencing double digit increases the GIC has had single digit increases and has been widely lauded for innovative plan design and effective negotiations with insurers and providers. The purpose of this Resolution is to encourage that service consideration be given not only by the town, but also by the unions and retirees to the GIC option.
 

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ARTICLE 31
This warrant article requests that the Citizen Complaint Review Committee consider as part of its charge the review of the Police Incident Report and the Police Investigatory Report, dated May 24, 2007 and October 10, 2007 respectively, concerning the 'May 2007 Incident at Town Hall' and to include in its report whether such documents are reliable.

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ARTICLE 32
To say that global warming is a significant problem facing the Commonwealth, and the world, is an understatement. The potentially dramatic changes to our climate caused by emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere threatens our coasts and low lying areas, our wild species, and key parts of Massachusetts’ economy, including fishing and winter recreation.

Legislation - the Global Warming Solutions Act - is currently before the Massachusetts legislature to commit Massachusetts to science-based reductions to our global warming pollutions, specifically to reduce emissions by 20% below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% by 2050. Similar legislation has already been enacted in California, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Florida.

Communities across the Commonwealth are adopting resolutions calling on Massachusetts to be a leader in the fight on global warming, rather than wait for the federal government to take action. This resolution will add Brookline’s collective voice to the effort to pass the Global Warming Solutions Act and put Massachusetts at the forefront of the environmental movement.

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ARTICLE 33
Any reports from Town Officers and Committees are included under this article in the Combined Reports. Town Meeting action is not required on any of the reports.