The second session of the 2013 Town Meeting takes place tonight.
It is our third time meeting, but last Wednesday was a Special Town Meeting, distinct from 2013's annual meeting.
We may move through a lot of articles tonight, or we may decide to debate one or more at length.
First up tonight is Article 13, a revision of our Animal Control bylaws.
This is a necessary housekeeping measure, reflecting changes made to state law last year.
In writing these revisions our Town Counsel has taken what I believe to be a positive approach, adding in a lot of topics not previously spelled out in Town bylaw.
She has picked through the state law, and included everything she thought a local resident might want or need to know.
In the past our law only stipulated a few things, relying on state law to cover everything else.
It is still true that we are bound by state law whether these items are listed in our town bylaws or not, but this makes it much easier for residents to look something up should they have questions.
This revision makes no fundamental changes to what is currently allowed or disallowed in Arlington as pertains to dogs.
Because of this I am hopeful that Town Meeting won't use this opportunity to engage in old debates about whether dogs and owners should have more or less liberties in town than they currently do.
Again, because the language in this rewrite is largely copied straight from state law, it is questionable whether any changes could legally be made.
Given the complexity of the law, and since no one has to date submitted any amendments, any attempts to make changes tonight would likely not be allowed by the moderator.
Nonetheless some members could revisit old fights, and slow things down considerably.
I hope not.
After Article 13, we consider Article 14, permitting self-serve gasoline in Arlington.
I have heard, but haven't confirmed that the proponents of this may ask to reject this tonight, so they can address some other issues that have been identified.
No idea on my part what those issues are as yet.
My sense is that I will vote against the article.
Some station owners in town are opposed to it, our gasoline prices are not higher than neighboring communities now, and a lot of residents I've heard from have real concerns about making this change.
Some want the option of self serve, but most - like myself - just don't really care.
After that we have Article 15, giving Selectmen the power to regulate utility poles, requiring replacement when they are deficient, and that sort of thing.
The Board of Selectmen have recommended No Action on this article.
In their comment, they state they are unsure they posses the legal authority to act on concerns, and feel they will be able to accomplish more by working with the utility companies involved to fix issues.
I'll be interested to hear more about why, and hear arguments from proponents of these changes.
Moving on we have a number of articles, one establishing a principle priority of pedestrian safety in all road projects, and several dealing with parking, parking permits, and fees related to all.
I suspect there will be debate regarding the parking articles.
The Board of Selectmen have recommended No Action on these.
At this time I plan listen to the arguments made and let the strength or weakness of those arguments determine my vote.
There is of course more to come after these. We may get there tonight, we may not.
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