Marion Finance Director Judy Mooney is officially the town’s new assistant administrator.
Mooney’s full new title, approved by Marion’s Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, January 21, is Finance Director and Assistant Town Administrator.
Marion Town Administrator Jay McGrail said in a previous meeting that he had been angling to give Mooney the position for quite some time.
“Now I know Judy and she’s exemplary,” said Selectman Randy Parker. “But I know that if she was sitting in my seat, she’d ask, ‘So what’s this going to cost?’”
“For the time being, nothing,” McGrail told him. Mooney is currently under contract with the town; her contract expires on June 30. She and McGrail have been negotiating a raise, McGrail explained. He noted that there were no dramatic changes in Mooney’s pay rate within the discussions.
“Well, she’s filled in capably as the town administrator before, I have no problems with this,” Parker said.
The selectman approved Mooney’s new position unanimously.
Marion also has a new town engineer. Meghan Davis, currently employed by engineering company Tata and Howard, will begin on February 3.
Davis, a UMass Amherst graduate, lives in Bourne and has been previously involved with engineering projects in Marion.
“One of [Davis’] very first jobs with Tata and Howard was working on a water main expansion in Marion,” Parker noted.
Also during the meeting, the selectmen approved the expansion of two Marion community boards. Marion Historical Commission member Meg Steinberg attended the meeting to discuss expanding the board from three regular members to five, in light of several exemplary applications.
“I don’t see why we should only have three members if we could have five,” Steinberg said. “We have five people who are all enthused and bring different skills to the table.”
“Three regulars with two alternates makes for an easier quorum if you need to vote on anything,” Parker advised Steinberg.
“I know,” she replied, “but I’d rather just wait and have more people overall.”
Her request was unanimously approved. The new members of the Historical Commission are V. Jane Tucker, Bryan McSweeney, and Sydney Bowen.
The size of the Marine Resources Commission also grew after commission members found themselves loathe to choose between two highly-qualified candidates. The commission requested to add both candidates as applicants, and the request was approved by the selectmen.
Board of Health member Dot Brown also approached the selectmen for a discussion on denitrification septic systems. The board did not have comments on the presentation, as it was simply informational.
Brown pointed out that water with an overflow of nitrogen means plants and animals will starve for lack of oxygen; she is currently discussing potential sewer regulations with her fellow Board of Health members to avoid this scenario.
Brown and the Buzzards Bay Coalition have been studying the state of Marion’s water for several years, and according to Brown, nitrogen levels are continually growing worse.
“If the new sewer systems installed in town in 2018 had been alternative systems, for denitrification, the amount of nitrogen introduced into the water would have been halved,” she explained.
There are about six different types of alternative septic systems, Brown told the board. All of them require yearly monitoring. She said loans are available for these newer technology septic systems, and Barnstable County is willing to take over sewer monitoring for residents should they upgrade their sewer system.
Although Marion isn’t a part of Barnstable County, Brown explained that the county is heavily invested in the health of Buzzards Bay and is offering the service to towns whose water flows into the bay.
There is another plus to the alternative systems, according to Brown. Residents who upgrade their systems, she explained, do not immediately have to hook their sewer up to the town sewer should a town sewer line be constructed near their house.
“Normally, that’s an immediate requirement. But, if a resident has recently upgraded their sewer, they are allowed to defer hooking up to town sewer for 10 to 20 years,” she said.
The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen is scheduled for February 4 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.
Marion Board of Selectmen
By Andrea Ray