By JEFF EPSTEIN
[email protected]
CHARLESTOWN — The police department has installed a new box in its lobby for the disposal of needles and other small, sharp objects.
The new red “sharps box” is located on the top and rear of the existing green box used for the public disposal of medications. It is much smaller than the medication box, and similar to those used for the same purpose in medical facilities.
“It’s just something, when people turn in unwanted meds, they can do that [turn in sharps] too,” Police Chief Patrick Connors told the select board Wednesday, the same day the box was installed.
The box should not be confused with any kind of needle exchange program, Connors added. It is simply a safe place to dispose of needles or other small sharps.
Special articles for town meeting
The select board also heard during its meeting from resident Scott Wade, who submitted a petition to change the board from its current three-member configuration to five members. The petition, read by member Thomas Cobb, simply asks for a town meeting question on adding the two new members. It does not ask for or require anything monetary.
Once the signatures on the petition are verified as meeting the town requirement, said Cobb, a public hearing, also known as a “deliberative session” will be scheduled. Under the law, the time and place for the deliberative session must be announced within 10 days.
Cobb said the session will probably be scheduled just ahead of he next regular select board meeting on Jan. 16, for 30 minutes.
At town meeting, the question will be listed as a special article on the warrant. If approved, the expanded board would not take effect until next year, town officials said.
The deadline for submitting such petitions for the next town meeting is Feb. 7.
Meanwhile, a different special article, not part of a petition, is under consideration. It may appropriate $40,000 for preliminary planning for a special building project. This item is expected to come up tonight, Jan. 3, at a meeting of the town finance committee.
For the general municipal budget, the major public deliberative session is scheduled for Feb. 2, and the deliberative session for the school budget is scheduled for Feb. 6.
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