Reilly will preside over his final meeting Tuesday night

Town Council President Thomas Reilly will call the final council meeting of the year to order Tuesday at 7 p.m. inside the Joseph Harvey Room at Town Hall.

The meeting will be Reilly’s last as council president. Reilly decided not to seek re-election to the position he has held for the past four years. Jeffrey Turco, who was elected council president by the voters in November, will be inaugurated in a ceremony on January 4.

Reilly said an item on the agenda at the final meeting will be the tax classification of residential and business properties.

“We have to take a vote every year on whether or not to tax different properties (residential and commercial) differently,” said Reilly. “You have the option of setting a higher tax rate for commercial properties, for instance. We’ve voted not to do that because of the small amount of commercial property that we have in the town.”

Town Councillor Richard Gill and Councillor-at-Large Joseph Ferrino are also stepping down from the council. One would expect that the remaining councillors, Councillor-at-Large Phil Boncore and Councillors Nicholas DelVento, James Letterie, Russell Sanford, Linda Calla, and Jeanne Maggio will pay tribute to the three members who are leaving the council.

“I may say a few words – I can’t imagine hitting the gavel and not saying something,” said Reilly, when asked if he’ll make a farewell address at the close of Tuesday’s meeting. “I expect Councillor Gill and Councillor-at-Large Ferrino may want to say a few things as well.”

Reilly has been involved in town government for 40 years, beginning as a Town Meeting member. He served on the Board of Selectmen from 1975 to 1981 and represented the town as a member of the MWRA Board of Directors. He also served on other town boards.

Reilly said he and Turco have met several times in order to insure a smooth transition when the new president assumes the reins of the council.