Tuesday, May 17, marked Stephen Gonsalves’ first meeting as a selectman. “Welcome!” said fellow Selectman Stephen Cushing. “Thank you,” Gonsalves replied, “I want to thank the voters for bringing me in.”
Gonsalves and Cushing, joined by fellow Selectman Jody Dickerson, set out to reorganize the Marion Board of Selectmen, something that Cushing reminded the audience they do every year.
Dickerson was re-assigned to chairman, while Cushing became vice chairman. Gonsalves now sits as the clerk. In addition, Dickerson remains Marion’s parking clerk.
The board spent a majority of their time listening to a presentation from the Marion Town House Building Committee. The committee had come to the board asking for a release of the Community Preservation Funds, which had already been authorized for the committee in a prior meeting. They intended to use the funds for Phase 1 of the renovation, which is to develop more schematic designs.
The committee informed the selectmen that they felt the best course of action was to renovate the current Town House and add a small entryway at the west end of the building, as well as a small addition to connect the current meeting hall with the original building.
The size of the renovation project was reduced by 2,000 square feet, which brought the total cost of the renovation to $11,974,606.
“We know that seems incredibly expensive,” committee members admitted, “but if we were to build elsewhere, we’d have to buy the land, plus the cost of building the new building. Without the land costs, the number we came up with is $9,680,381. And if we were to demolish the current Town House and rebuild on this property, the cost of building plus demolition of the former building would cost approximately $11.2 million. For such a small difference, we think the best option is to renovate the current Town House and return it to more of what it would have looked like when Elizabeth Taber built it.”
The selectmen agreed with the historic preservation angle and agreed to release the Community Preservation funds.
“There doesn’t seem to be any sense in moving away from the path we’re on,” said Cushing.
Town Administrator Paul Dawson then gave an update on the Future Generation Wind Project. Energy Management Committee member Bill Saltonstall gave more information on this project.
“The turbines will begin to be live in June, and the remaining turbines are planned to be running by June,” Saltonstall said.
Dawson then commented on the Electric Car Grant Project, which has currently placed one electric car with the Marion Recreation Department.
“The Recreation Department is pleased with the outcome,” Dawson reported. “But if we were to apply for two more vehicles, our reimbursement would be $3,000 less than it would be if we applied for three more vehicles. We aren’t sure where the fourth vehicle would go yet, though. The first consideration is the Department of Public Works. That would remove the department’s truck from the road, but we don’t know how the electric cars would do on unpaved road. The other option is the Council on Aging, to use for their Meals on Wheels deliveries.”
“Do we know how far the van goes on each Meals on Wheels delivery run?” asked Cushing.
“Well, they tend to run 80-90 miles at a time, generally,” Dickerson reported. “So we’d need to know if that’s how far the van drives every time it makes its delivery rounds. If the electric car can’t get all the way around the route, then there’s no point in putting it there.”
“That’s true, and the other issue is that it won’t remove a gas-run car from the road either,” Dawson said. “The COA van will still be used for things like doctor’s appointments, so it will still be in use.”
Town resident Ted North stood up to talk about the electric cars.
“There’s a misconception that these cars were free,” he said, “but they weren’t. Their leases, currently $9,300 for a 36-month lease, were paid for by tax credits from the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ scheme. We’ll never recoup the costs of these cars.”
The selectmen agreed to wait for more information on the mileage of the COA van before making a final decision on the application for further electric cars.
Before the board adjourned, Dickerson had one unfortunate announcement to make.
“As co-chair of the 2016 Marion Fireworks Board … we unfortunately are not able to go ahead with the fireworks this year,” he said. The town needed $50,000 to offset the expenses of fireworks, said Dickerson, so the board ran a fundraising campaign. “However, we were only able to raise a little under $10,000. We’re hoping to be able to do something for 2017. The money raised will stay in the same account, hopefully for use in 2017. Anyone who donated will be able to get refunds, as we’ve done in the past,” he clarified.
“That’s a shame,” said Cushing.
“It is,” agreed Dickerson, “and we aren’t alone. Wareham also had to cancel its fireworks this year.”
“The economy hasn’t really bounced back,” Cushing mused. “Everyone’s a little cash-strapped right now.
The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen will be on June 7 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.
By Andrea Ray