The Marion Select Board made sure its appreciation for Terri Santos was known after the town-employed administrative assistant volunteered to fill one of three vacancies on the Affordable Housing Trust.
Also appointed to three-year terms during Tuesday’s Select Board Zoom meeting were Nancy McFadden and Tangi Pina, and the new memberships come at a time when the Affordable Housing Trust is about to deal on a much more concrete level with multiple developments in the works in Marion.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up being chair,” said Town Administrator Jay McGrail of Santos while also pointing out that, like most boards/committees in town, the AHT will no longer benefit from the town’s clerical support and will to have to manage itself.
The present chair is Casey Cole-Vieira. Other members are Select Board representative Norm Hills, Cynthia Thomas, and Minhtram Tran. The three openings were created over the past year by the resignation of Greg Polzer and a lack of attendance from Bill do Carmo, while Ethan Gerber asked not to be reappointed.
Hills attends most meetings and, in noting recent Community Preservation Committee funding for the AHT’s Housing Production Plan conducted with assistance from the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District [SRPEDD], said a new understanding is needed because “a new 40B project should put us over the 10 percent.”
Select Board member John Waterman asked about the ramifications for Marion’s need for moderately priced housing, and Hills said the AHT is looking at that.
It is anticipated that the AHT, with these appointments and as Marion anticipates major changes with new residential developments on the way, will need clearer direction from the Select Board on how to focus its efforts.
Waterman even questioned whether the Affordable Housing Trust title will still fit the committee’s mission. Hills acknowledged that, with Marion moving past the 10-percent affordable housing threshold, the concept of the AHT’s involvement opens up.
The Select Board voted to approve the three appointments and thanked Santos for stepping up at a crucial time.
Marion’s wastewater lagoon project is catching a second wind that McGrail hopes will end in the next two weeks with the completion of the sludge removal project.
The key piece involves technique, as DPW Director Nathaniel Munafo has prescribed a new course of action being carried out, literally, by the contractor. It was determined after the material on the bottom surface had dried up that the centrifuge and pump is no longer feasible. Instead, a tonnage program, a 65-foot reach excavator will load up to 11 trailers daily with sludge, clay, and subgrade material that will be taken to a waste management disposal location in Maine.
According to McGrail, the state Department of Environmental Protection approved the change of plan in concert with CDM and Weston & Sampson, the two engineering firms. He said the new plan saves Marion “a bunch of money.”
In addition to the two engineering firms and Munafo’s oversight, the town is paying an onsite project manager.
The selectmen approved Chief of Police Richard Nighelli’s proposal of Ashley Robins for appointment to a one-year probationary period as a full-time officer effective August 8. Robins is a graduate from the state Police Academy in Plymouth and has worked for the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Department in Dedham and at UMass Dartmouth.
Eight-year resident and combat veteran David Brissette has volunteered to be the first member of a newly revived 2021-22 Fireworks Committee. Marion has not had such a committee in the two years that McGrail has been town administrator. As interim chair of the committee, Brissette will work with Donna Hemphill on recruitment and organization.
Michael and Judy Medeiros’ impromptu appearance at the July 20 Select Board meeting paid off when the board designated Old Landing part of Section 2, which is allowed overnight parking of unoccupied vehicles on certain streets. This would allow the Medeiroses to park at Old Landing and continue their tradition of overnight boating trips.
In his Town Administrator’s Report, McGrail updated the October 19 Special Town Meeting with the following schedule: The deadline for articles and citizen petitions is August 31, and the warrant closes on September 21.
There is one financial article addressing Town House electrical upgrades, the Old Rochester Regional School District agreement, and five bylaw changes that the Select Board will review with Hills. The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the bylaw changes.
The board approved water/sewer commitments at $2,403.22 and $438.12. Citing a leaking toilet, the selectmen denied an abatement request at 922 Point Road.
At Marthe Soden’s recommendation, Kristen Guevara was approved to fill the vacancy on the Marion Scholarship Committee.
The Select Board also voted to approve a donation of a dogwood tree to the Music Hall.
Tuesday, November 30, is the deadline for the submission of all paperwork and fees for applications for 2022 liquor licenses and other licenses.
The Friends of the Council on Aging will hold its benefit on August 19; the fundraiser will raise money for the Cushing Community Center’s covered pavilion. Tickets are $40 and will be available at Kate’s Simple Eats, at Mimi’s, and at the COA.
McGrail thanked the Marion Garden Group and the Highway Division staff of the DPW for their beautification work this year.
Finally, McGrail and the Select Board acknowledged the service of Town Planner Gil Hilario, whose final day on the job is Friday, August 6. “Especially during COVID, Gil’s really shined,” said McGrail.
Hilario will become town planner in his hometown of North Attleboro.
“It’s closer to home, too convenient, pretty much where I grew up,” said Hilario, who thanked everyone for all the lessons he has learned in Marion. “We did our best, met key goals; the town is in good hands with Jay.”
The next meeting of the Marion Select Board is scheduled for Tuesday, August 24, at 6:00 pm via Zoom.
Marion Select Board
By Mick Colageo