March 29, 2024

From the Town Clerk

Posted

Hello All ~ Happy May! – The Spring flowers are here, birds are back, and the leaves have popped ~ yippee! If it is May, it must be tax day . . . as a reminder; quarterly taxes were due Wednesday, May 1st.

ANNUAL TOWN ELECTION DETAILS
I would again like to thank the 716 of the 8,144 registered voters for coming out to vote at our April 1, 2019 Annual Town Election. We had 9% voter participation this year, which is down from last year’s 2018 Annual Town Election of 19% and down from our 2017 Annual Town Election of 30% participation. Congratulations to Bill Cute-Moderator; Skip Vadnais-Selectman; Cheryl Gouveia-Treasurer; Gene Campbell-Assessor; Craig Chapman-School Committee; George Cardono, Linda Sherman and Paul Jacques for Housing Authority; Bill Costa-Planning Board; Kathy Amaral-Parks Commission; Ken Abrams, Bill Dalpe, and Mike Deignan as Constables, and Ted Ballard, Joe Nunes and Katie Eyer for Water Commission. We also had a not-binding ballot question regarding natural gas access in Rehoboth, which was voted down by 274 votes (Yes=197; No=471; Blanks=48). If you are interested in the final official results, they can be found on the town website @
https://www.town.rehoboth.ma.us/sites/rehobothma/files/uploads/rehoboth-tally-ate-4-1-2019-official-signed.pdf

THANK YOU!!! ~ ELECTION WORKERS, REGISTRARS, FIRE, HIGHWAY, CONSTABLES, ELECTION EQUIPMENT STAFF & ASSISTANT TOWN CLERK
I would personally like to thank the many people who participated in our April 1, 2019 Annual Town election and for helping me make sure the election ran smoothly. From the Wardens, Clerks, Inspectors, Constables, Veterans, Station 3 Fire Personnel, Highway Department, Registrars, COA and Assistant Town Clerk . . . thank you for all your hard work. There is no way we could have an election without the wonderful help of you all ~ thank you for all you do for so many! Thank you also Sara and Billy for the delicious Vinos meals and thank you Aaron for our breakfast coffee and donuts.

ANNUAL TOWN MEETING
Now is the time to have your voice heard. Rehoboth voters have been notified, through delivery of the Special and Annual Town Warrant to their home on Tuesday, April 23rd, that the date for Special/Annual Town Meeting will be held Monday, May 13, 2019 at the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School Auditorium beginning at 7:00 pm. The Special Town Meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. and the Annual Town Meeting will follow immediately after at 7:30 p.m. I urge all voters to come out to the Special and Annual Town Meeting and let your voice be heard. It is up to you to vote how your town government runs and how your money is spent.

The last day for Voter Registration, to be eligible to participate in the Special and Annual Town Meeting, is Friday, May 3, 2019. The Town Clerk’s Office was open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on May 3rd to accommodate last minute registrations. As always, if you would like to register to vote, or change your party affiliation, you may go to the Secretary of State’s Election Division @ www.RegisterToVoteMA.com and complete the voter registration form online. However, if you are not registered by Friday, May 3, 2019, you will not be able to vote in the May 13, 2019 Town Meeting. If you would like to check your voter status (active or inactive), you may also go to: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/VoterRegistrationSearch/MyVoterRegStatus.aspx and see if your registration is active and what precinct you vote in.

ANNUAL TOWN CENSUS
The Rehoboth Annual Town Census reflects our current population total, which as of April 12, 2019 is “officially” 12,745. That is an increase of 81 residents over last year’s “official” population figure of 12,664. After calls to households from our Registrars, we still have 323 census forms, out of 4,976 forms that were mailed in January, which have not been returned (Precinct I = 108 non respondents; Precinct II = 111 non respondents, and Precinct III = 104 non respondents). Please send in your census/street listing forms as soon as possible ~ thank you. Due to the delayed resident responses, I anticipate the Street Listings being delayed to mid-late May for those of you who like to purchase them for $15. Please call our office before heading up to town hall to see if the Street Listings have arrived so you don’t waste a trip. I would like to thank Assistant Town Clerk, Lynn Shaker and the Registrars Helene Vitale, Jenn Moitozo, and Kathy Conti for your help with processing the almost 5,000 census forms. We all had another busy and successful Census season ~ thank you!

2019 DOG LICENSES
Dog licenses are due and payable on April 1st of each year. Thank you to the 1,498 dog owners who have already renewed their dog’s 2019 license. Any dog license not paid by May 31st will be assessed a $15.00 per dog late fee in addition to the license fee(s). We have offered dog owners a 60-day grace period to pay their dog’s licenses without charging a late fee; however, we must now impose those fees effective June 1st. The Town has incurred the expense of sending out over seven hundred reminder postcards to those dog owners who have not paid their dog’s 2019 license in the hopes we would avoid having to impose late fees. You may renew your dog license online, by mail, or in person. Currently we have 728 dogs that are unlicensed; we hope to hear from their owners soon. Please, please renew your dog’s license as soon as possible and definitely before May 31st to avoid the late fees. Thanks so much!

Anyone having questions regarding any of the above information may call the Town Clerk’s Office at 508-252-6502, X3109 or X3110 or e-mail me at LSchwall@town.rehoboth.ma.us. In closing, I would like to wish a Happy Birthday to Assistant Town Clerk ~ Lynn Shaker, who celebrates her birthday in May. In addition, Lynn and I wish a Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms in Rehoboth. We also wish everyone a healthy and safe Memorial Day. Hopefully by Memorial Day the weather will be rain free and absolutely perfect. Please remember to honor all those who made the ultimate sacrifice by attending the Rehoboth Memorial Day Parade ~ more information will be available on Town’s website. Thank you again for your continued support and the opportunity to serve another year as Rehoboth’s Town Clerk. Please have a happy and safe month of MAY!

~ Laura ~

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