The Town Clerk’s office is staffed by three full time and one part-time time employee. Throughout the year we are fortunate to have the assistance of volunteers as needed. In this capacity Josephine Ferreira has been with us three years doing both Registrar and Town Clerk office functions. We sincerely thank her.
Our Vital Statistics recorded for 2002 are as follows:
Births |
241 |
Deaths |
230 |
Marriages |
121 |
We can anticipate higher figures for births and deaths, as it will be three months before the final figures are received from cities or towns making the reports.
The staff issued more “long form” certified birth certificates this year than in the past and we believe it may be due to the lucrative airline fares. The full certified copy is necessary to secure a passport.
Our fees for certificates and other services increased as of July 1, 2002 in an effort to maintain our revenue needs. Several items we sell are now available on the Town website; therefore, a slight decline was inevitable.
The Town Clerk has chosen to continue serving as a licensing agent for the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife issuing 188 fishing, hunting and sporting licenses and stamps during 2002. The fee received by the town is not great, but the pleasure of the recipient is worth the time and effort. Many of these people have been coming yearly for over fifteen years and always have a story to share.
The animal licensing has progressed steadily with more cats being licensed in 2002. We licensed 1,082 dogs and 863 cats. The Town Clerk opened on the Saturday of the rabies clinic to accommodate those needing a license. Many residents are taking advantage of the mail-in form sent with the census form, thus alleviating the need to come to Town Hall.
Receipts of the Town Clerks Office for 2002 are as follows:
Dog Fees |
$10,120.00 |
Cat Fees |
$4,880.00 |
Sporting Fees |
$266.65 |
Marriage Intentions |
$1,840.00 |
Common Victualer License |
$6,695.00 |
Fuel/Gas Permits |
$530.00 |
Certified Certificates |
$16,205.80 |
Violations |
$3,100.00 |
Holders |
$2.00 |
UCC's & Business Certs |
$2,472.00 |
Resident Books & Bylaws |
$1,717.00 |
Maps & Raffles |
$127.00 |
Zoning Books |
$1,315.00 |
Monies sent to Commonwealth for licenses |
$5,067.25 |
TOTAL COLLECTED |
$56,077.00 |
The Annual Town Meeting began on April 22nd and concluded after 5 sessions on May 22nd. Also held were 2 Special Town Meetings. One within the Annual on April 24th and the other called for May 20, 2002 concluding on May 28th. The minutes of these meetings are elsewhere in this Report. All necessary articles were sent to the Attorney General and approved.
Many new committee and board members were sworn in and signed the Register. They were issued Open Meeting Law and Conflict of Interest pamphlets if they were first time members of a committee, board or commission.
At times space was scarce on the official Meeting Notice Bulletin board. We have an extremely large number of committees and sub-committees that need to post publicly forty-eight hours prior to the meeting.
Telephone contact with the public remains a major function of the Town Clerks’ staff. Although we publish department telephone numbers in several publications we do receive an extraordinary number of “information” calls, which we connect to the proper department. However, some of the calls are asking for the time of day; when is the next bus leaving Belmont Center for Harvard; and especially, “Is this my recycling day?” We do enjoy the public contact but find it time consuming. However, we will happily continue to serve in this capacity because several callers have complimented us on having a “real person” talking to them.
In closing I thank you, the residents, for you patience and understanding during our third move to temporary quarters. We look forward to returning to the Town Hall and implementing new services.
Respectfully submitted,
Delores A. Keefe, Town Clerk
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