Voters approved an $82,431,491 budget for the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1.
Town Administrator George Bud Dunham said town officials adopted an approach of “patience, prudence and, most importantly, flexibility in preparing the new budget, which represents about a 3% increase over the current fiscal year.
The conservative budget left out many big-ticket items. There were fears that the state would cut local aid, but that hasn’t materialized, Dunham said.
Voters authorized a commercial ban on single-use plastic water bottles by a 111-77 vote. The ban will go into effect Dec. 31.
Voters at special town meeting in the fall indefinitely postponed the petition article put forth by Sustainable Practices, which was brought back to town meeting Monday.
SANDWICH A new budget, a commercial plastic water bottle ban and a request to help restore a historic meetinghouse are among the items that passed muster with town meeting voters Monday.
Just over 200 residents showed up to this year s spring session, held Monday night in the Sandwich High School gymnasium. COVID-19 safety measures were in place, including mask-wearing and social distancing.
Fiscal 2022 budget
Voters approved an $82,431,491 budget for the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1.
Town Administrator George Bud Dunham said town officials adopted an approach of “patience, prudence and, most importantly, flexibility in preparing the new budget, which represents about a 3% increase over the current fiscal year.
Staring in January, the retail sale of water in single-use plastic bottles will be forbidden in Sandwich.
That is what voters at Town Meeting decided Monday night, May 3, after what amounted to the only lengthy debate of the evening.
âI am beyond thrilled,â said Mary Cote, Sandwich spokeswoman for the environmental group sponsoring the bottle ban. âI had a feeling it would pass when I saw all the people coming in with their reusable water bottles.â
The ban applies only to single-use, personal-sized plastic bottles of water. More specifically, it will curtail the sales and distribution of all plastic bottles that contain less than a gallon of non-carbonated, unflavored drinking water, according to the petition re-filed this year by the Brewster-based group Sustainable Practices.
On the same May afternoon, just days before George Floyd’s slow death under a Minneapolis officer’s knee shocked the nation, two Orange County deputies used dangerous neck restraints in separate encounters, despite the technique being prohibited in most circumstances.