Brookline Town Meeting Asked to Fix Errors in Past Legislation

When it convenes in November, among the first issues Town Meeting will be asked to consider are a series of errors in two votes from recent years.

According to two articles submitted for the warrant, Town Meeting will be asked to correct the language of a 2009 vote related to the purchase of a state-owned reservoir on Fisher Hill, and petition the state legislature to correct a 2008 home-rule petition related to the sale of taxi medallions.

The 2009 vote allowed Brookline selectmen to move ahead with the purchase of an unused reservoir that the town plans to turn into a park. But according to the warrant article, the vote incorrectly referenced Chapter 218 of the Acts of 2000 rather than Chapter 20 of the Acts of 2008, which is the legislation that allows for the sale of the land the general terms of its use.

The 2008 vote was meant to allows the town to start selling taxi medallions, but state lawmakers made changes to the legislation related to the Town's Transportation Board a month after Town Meeting met in 2008, making certain reference in the language of Town Meeting's vote outdated.

When Town Meeting meets again this November, it will be asked to petition the state to update those references as well as correct several "minor scrivener's errors," according to the warrant article.

The two articles are the only ones submitted into the warrant for November's meeting as of Aug. 21. The warrant closes on Sept. 2.

The fall session of Town Meeting will begin Nov. 16.