How to replace Jay McGrail, Marion’s town administrator of the past three years, was officially addressed by the Select Board for the first time during Monday night’s public meeting at the Police Station.
McGrail won the job as Middleborough’s new town manager on October 11 with a unanimous vote of its Select Board. His final day working for Marion will be Friday, November 11.
“I’m most proud of the team we have built,” said McGrail, who was effusive in his praise of Finance Director Judy Mooney, whom he touted for the interim role of town administrator following his impending departure from the Marion job. “I’ve worked with Judy hand in hand, every single, solitary day for three years. There’s nothing she hasn’t done.”
The Select Board enthusiastically agreed with McGrail about Mooney’s performance and voted unanimously to name her the interim town administrator.
In the immediate, the board also voted at McGrail’s recommendation to retain Bernie Lynch, founder and managing principal of Plymouth-based Community Paradigm Associates, to conduct a job search at a cost of $9,500.
McGrail said Lynch’s initial steps will be calling the three Select Board members for initial guidance, then hold discussions with all Marion department heads. He would present a complete package for the board’s consumption at its November 1 meeting, then post the job that night or the next day. On November 1, it is anticipated that the Select Board will appoint a screening committee for the first round of applicants.
Select Board member Toby Burr sought to confirm that the process is “not ironclad,” to which fellow member Norm Hills replied, “There’s a lot of flexibility.”
Middleborough will be McGrail’s second job in the general role, and at 72.2 square miles (second in Massachusetts only to Plymouth) not only is Middleborough geographically nearly three times Marion’s size, the landlocked community that dominates Route 495 between Wareham and Route 24 has approximately five times Marion’s population at over 25,000.
Atop that, the operations model of town manager will place McGrail in greater authority that he has had as town administrator in Marion.
McGrail begins his new job on November 21.
The board also voted to approve a contract amendment drawn up by Town Counsel Jon Witten that covers the timeline of McGrail’s departure.
Marion’s Energy Management Committee prepared long and hard to use its 6:15 pm appointment with the Select Board to spread awareness and of its work and successes, to stress the need for a municipal grant writer to sustain its work and to urge the board to consider its recommendations to use the two, ongoing, major municipal construction projects as opportunities to make Marion a leader in what the EMC insists must be a locally driven revolution away from fossil fuels.
Led by Chairman Christian Ingerslev, several EMC members including Jennifer Francis, Tom Friedman, Eileen Marum, Alanna Nelson and Bill Saltonstall all reported to the Select Board on various projects undertaken in recent months by the committee.
Saltonstall gave a brief synopsis of the town’s progression to become a state-recognized Green Community, highlighting Marion’s five-year reduction of municipal energy use by 18.7%, nearly reaching 20%, a number that triggers more grant-funding opportunities with the state agency.
To date, Green Communities grants coming into Marion total $691,667. Francis credits the efforts of former Town Planner Gil Hilario, who regularly attended many municipal public meetings as the town’s unofficial remote-meeting manager.
Hilario’s research into grant-funding opportunities was lauded by Francis, but in the throes of the Covid pandemic, the departure of Lockheed Martin and major municipal and private construction projects, McGrail’s intentions to split grant-writing duties with new Town Planner/Conservation Agent Doug Guey-Lee have not been able to match Hilario’s allocation of time.
“There’s a lot of opportunity coming down the pike, and if we’re not ready to go, we’re going to miss the boat,” said Francis.
In response to the committee’s concerns regarding communication with the Select Board, Chairman Randy Parker encouraged the EMC to make regular appearances before the board and delved into discussion about the Department of Public Works construction and its capacity for solar, highlighting opportunistic points at which the EMC should prepare to interject energy-related proposals.
In reporting long-term cost savings via the replacement of oil and gas-burning systems with electricity, the EMC concluded its report by tossing a question to the Select Board.
“This has to be the decade that we pull back from climate change, and it has to start at the local level,” said Ingerslev. “What can the committee do to assist the town? We work for you.”
“You’ve given us a lot to think about,” said Hills, indicating that a proper answer would take some time to formulate.
In a 6:30 pm appointment, DPW Interim Director Becky Tilden and Jody Dickerson reported on staffing updates, announcing that in the wake of departures of the town’s plumber and mechanic, Andrew Leconte has been moved into the mechanic’s position and Heath Harriman is now a DPW foreman.
McGrail credited Tilden’s leadership in the recent purchase of a street sweeper and dump truck.
His update on the DPW Building Committee during his Town Administrator’s Report rebooted discussion with EMC members.
McGrail also announced the timeline of a hire for the Board of Assessors in the wake of assessor Catherine Gibbs’ passing. A joint appointment with the Select Board will be made. The application deadline for the job is November 10. Interviews will be conducted in joint session on November 15, and a joint vote is planned for December 6.
The Select Board also voted to approve: to formalize a winter-maintenance agreement for up to 13 private roads, Steen Realty’s installation of sub-metering at Marion Village Estates, the Marion Library Association Agreement, the Warrant for the November 8 General Election and designation of Chief of Police Richard Nighelli to assign a detail.
In attendance, developer Ken Steen explained that the submetering is not being done for billing purposes but to “monitor consumption … savings and conservation. … Otherwise, there’s just no way that we can do it.” Installation will take place with oversight from the DPW.
The town will hold a Veterans Day ceremony on Friday, November 11, at Old Landing with Marion Technical Sergeant Randy Gibbons as guest speaker.
The Town House will close on Wednesday, November 23, at 12:00 pm and remained closed through the weekend per union contract. The Transfer Station will also be closed on Friday but will reopen on Saturday, November 26.
The next meeting of the Marion Select Board is scheduled for Tuesday, November 1, at 6:00 pm at the Marion Police Station on Route 6.
Marion Select Board
By Mick Colageo