In addition to setting a date for residents to vote on an open space purchase and discussing hydro power, the Board of Selectmen took several actions and discussed numerous issues Wednesday night, including the following.

Donations

Selectmen accepted $100 donations to the Canton Volunteer Fire and EMS Department from Mark and Janet Buchanan and Patricia Welch and a $100 to the Canton Police Department from Kenneth Weeks. It will be used to replace a water cooler base. The police department union pays for the water.

Annual Town Meeting

Selectmen approved holding the Jan. 19 annual town meeting in the auditorium at Town Hall. It begins at 7 p.m. and will include discussions on a pavement management program, the Police Department and the search for a highway garage location.

Next Meeting

Due to the annual town meeting, the board will hold its regular meeting the next night, Jan. 20.

Alarm ordinance

Despite Marc Cerniglia’s objections of it being unnecessary and overly bureaucratic, the board approved an updated alarm systems ordinance. The ordinance is intended to crack down on cases of repeated false burglary alarms that tie up police officers.  In cases of alarms that directly alert safety officials, it sets up a $25 registration fee for new alarms and fines for repeated false alarms, starting with $75 for the third offense. The fines can be waived and there is an appeals process.

Sidewalks

Chief Administrative Officer Robert Skinner, Selectman Stephen Roberto, resident and former police chief Lowell Humphrey and others expressed concerns that some Route 44 businesses did not remove snow from their sidewalks even days after the recent winter storm. Skinner said there is a fine system in place and said the Public Works Department has agreed to help monitor the situation.

Charter Revision

After some discussion of its implications, the board agreed to begin the process of creating a Charter Revision Commission to fix a mistake in the current charter.  During the last revision, a commission had discussed staggering elections for selectmen. It decided not do so but in the final language missed an error that  every four years only allows Democrats and Republicans to appoint two candidates each in addition to a first selectman candidate. The intent was to change the number back to three.

Bonding Task Force

Chief Administrative Officer Robert Skinner reiterated his proposal to create a bonding task force in cooperation with the Board of Education and Board of Finance.  With many proposed projects on the horizon, it would be good for a cross-section of officials and residents to prioritize projects and determine what the town can afford, he said. Since the town’s debt service starts to go down in 2013, now is the time to go forward with an idea, he said. Selectmen were generally favorable to the idea and Skinner plans to reach out to other boards.

Police Officer

The Police Department is getting excellent candidates for a new sworn officer position, Skinner told selectman. The additional officer position was approved in the last budget cycle and is designed to let the police detective concentrate on investigative work.