The Marion Board of Selectmen closed the Special Fall Town Meeting warrant on September 8 and approved the five articles, with one potential article to be taken off the following day. The Special Town Meeting is scheduled for October 26.
One article, Article S5, according to Town Administrator Paul Dawson, will likely disappear from the warrant as of the next day when he receives written confirmation that damage caused by a July rainstorm that flooded three town buildings will be covered by insurance.
The article, submitted by the facilities manager, would have covered the $12,000 in damages and costs accrued during the cleanup, which Dawson said was a significant hit to the facilities line item of the budget.
“It won’t even be on the warrant if I get that written confirmation tomorrow,” said Dawson.
Article S1 on the warrant pertains to a prior 2013 Town Meeting vote that authorized the Town of Marion to collect water bills from out-of-town resident water consumers. The original article, explained Dawson, lacked specific language that would formally accept the statute, and this special article would correct the situation.
Article S2 would appropriate $10,000 for gypsy moth and winter moth aerial spraying should a spring 2016 outbreak arise. The funding request, submitted by the tree warden, would be expended only if needed, and the funds would come from the free cash treasury.
Article S3 is the ambulance article that was passed over at the 2015 Annual Town Meeting. The article would appropriate $241,000 to purchase a new emergency ambulance for use by the Fire/EMS Department. Dawson noted that the Special Town Meeting article is $4,000 higher than the previous town meeting article, accounting for an increase in the quoted price of the vehicle.
Article S4 would approve the transfer of $50,000 from the treasury to be used as the Town’s required contribution toward a grant totaling $200,000 from the Buzzards Bay and Narragansett Estuary Programs as part of the Town’s ongoing program of sewer-related improvements.
“This is a grand opportunity where the Town could receive $200,000 in grant money opportunities for the town,” said Dawson. “This is really just a placeholder that allows us to appropriate the funds.”
Also, Dawson asked residents of the town to not read too deeply into the omission of an article on the warrant that would address the plowing of private roadways.
“This is one of those articles … that can be overrun over the course of the year,” Dawson stated. He explained that it would be better practice to simply make a funds transfer request during the Special Town Meeting to be held during the Annual Town Meeting to cover the cost of the snow and ice removal of eligible private roadways that meet certain criteria for plowing, such as wide enough roads and the pruning back of low overhead hanging branches that could damage equipment.
Dawson advised that selectmen hold a discussion with Department of Public Works Superintendent Rob Zora during the next meeting for further clarification.
Also during the September 8 meeting, selectmen met with Board of Health Chairman Albin Johnson regarding a request to add a sewer connection on Point Road, despite a general moratorium on new sewer connections in town. Johnson said this particular new development would be positioned exactly near an existing sewer line, saying, “We prefer to have them tie in to the town sewer now, rather than later.”
Selectmen Chairman Stephen Cushing recommended tabling the discussion until the next meeting so Zora could attend and shed further light on the subject.
The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen is scheduled for September 22 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.
By Jean Perry
