With an eye geared toward the May 9 Town Meeting, the Marion Finance Committee reviewed PowerPoint presentations on both the proposed Marine Center and new Department of Public Works facility during its March 16 meeting.
The two projects will appear as articles on the warrant for the May 9 Annual Town Meeting and were part of a long list of warrant articles approved by the committee.
Total estimated cost of constructing a new DPW as designed by Saltonstall Architects for Benson Brook Road is $4,456,155.
“Not like the harbor building, this affects these people’s taxes, this is an override,” said Town Administrator Jay McGrail before Finance Committee Chairman Shay Assad reminded him that the town plans to offset $1,500,000 of the cost from its free-cash account.
Marion will be looking to borrow approximately $3,000,000 to complete the project now three years in the works.
“Given that we’re putting that (free cash) down, the burden on the town won’t be as big as it could be from a debt-service point of view,” said Assad, also cautioning against undue delay that could make the inevitable more expensive.
Select Board member John Waterman said that the reason the town sold its Atlantis Drive facility was with this scenario in mind.
Getting the townspeople on board is another matter.
“My concern is that this hasn’t received a lot of publicity and that people really don’t know about it,” said McGrail, who estimates that a dozen people attended the open house held last fall at both the existing DPW location and the proposed location for a new facility.
There is another open house in the works for Saturday, April 9, at 10:00 am, beginning with a guided tour of the dilapidated DPW facilities followed by a visit to the proposed site for its replacement near the Wastewater Treatment Plant off Benson Brook Road.
The town will also hold an informational Zoom meeting on April 27 to preview the May 9 Annual Town Meeting with a focus on the proposed DPW project.
FinCom member Jay Pateakos suggested using ORCTV to film on the site of the existing DPW to make taxpayers aware of the conditions. McGrail feels that the project will sell itself to anyone who visits the current facility at the Highway Department garage on Route 6, where old, shack storage buildings sit that years ago were moved onto the site.
“The buildings on the right need to be condemned. … The guys eat their lunch in their trucks because they don’t want any sort of varmint,” said McGrail, noting that the facility fails both operational needs and OSHA standards. “The long-term plan is to demolish all the buildings on the right.”
As it is, Marion cannot properly wash its equipment or keep equipment out of the weather and preserve its value.
FinCom member Margie Baldwin called the current DPW “hazardous to the employees” and urged the town to make the citizens understand that the facility is out of compliance.
Once the new site opens on Benson Brook, the larger buildings on the left at the Highway Department can be cleaned up and used for projects, according to McGrail.
Marion’s MS4 permit requires covered salt storage, which will be part of the new facility across Route 6. Fuel storage and salt storage would move to the new location, and open areas will be used for boat parking and event parking.
Waterman said that Wayne Mattson and architect Will Saltonstall have designed a new facility that he described as “utilitarian, but it meets the needs.”
McGrail said Marion’s proposal is probably only a quarter of the cost of the average DPW facility being built in Massachusetts municipalities. At $191,825, the town has built what he called “a real heavy contingency” accounting for 5 percent of the total cost.
In answer to FinCom member Peter Winters, Finance Director Judy Mooney explained that the town’s $1,500,000, free-cash contribution to the DPW project will be paid up front and, according to McGrail, applied to construction costs. The debt would come online in FY24.
There was no new information in McGrail’s PowerPoint on the Harbormaster Marine Center, but in reviewing the project history he reminded the committee that the September 2020 feasibility study resulted in negative feedback and ultimately a sleeker approach. The amended design’s main objective, said McGrail, was to “right-size the building,”
An April 2021 updated design included breakaway walls so that a rush of water could pass through and not threaten the upper level of the building where the Harbormaster Department offices would be located. A lift elevator will make the new building handicap accessible.
The prior design had bathrooms on the upper level, but those were cut from the project in favor of renovation of the existing ground-level restrooms.
The cost estimate for the Marine Center, including a 5 percent, soft-cost contingency, is $2,879,463. Having put in $75,000 as its design-grant match, Marion is looking to borrow $700,000 to cover its share of the construction.
The remainder of the construction funding will be, the town hopes, the result of two $1,000,000 grant applications (in addition to the $300,000 granted by the state’s Seaport Economic Council.)
In the event Marion does not receive the second $1,000,000 grant, McGrail and Harbormaster Isaac Perry have spent time looking over other potential grant-funding opportunities, so far identifying two alternatives.
“Honestly, we’ve been very up front with (the Seaport Economic Council,) they know our plan,” said McGrail, who said Marion is not the first town to make the two applications (the SEC has a $1,000,000 grant cap per application but not per project.
Debt service, expected at $50,000 to $60,000 per year, will be entirely funded by the Waterways Account. McGrail expects that harbor-related fees should not be impacted.
Catalyst Architecture has already designed harbormaster headquarters for several other regional communities with assistance from the SEC. The uncertainty lies in the end of Governor Baker’s term, which could spell the end of the SEC. Construction is projected for the fall of 2023.
The original design intended to move administrative staff to the Marine Center, but that support has been located at the Town House while also serving the town clerk on a half-time basis.
FinCom member Bill Marvel sought clarification to Town Meeting vote on $775,000 in town funding for the grant match.
“If it comes back to Town Meeting, that means we did very poorly,” said McGrail.
Below is a summary of the more significant warrant articles that were put before the Finance Committee on March 16: 1. sets the salaries for the assessor, Select Board and Board of Health members, and town moderator (no changed from FY22); 2. the FY23 operating budget at $24,701,737, up almost $1,000,000 from the FY22 figure of $23,837,721; 3. Water Enterprise Fund at $2,376,050; 4. Sewer Enterprise Fund at $3,522,210; 9. General and Water Enterprise funds at $1,897,007 (capital projects); 10. DPW facility; 11. Marine Center; and 12. placeholder for Marion’s portion of Mattapoisett River Valley Water District filter upgrade at $720,000 (not to impact FY23).
The committee held off on voting on Articles 10 and 11 because they were still under the review of bond counsel for the sake of accurate verbiage. The committee planned to vote on those articles during its March 23 meeting.
Neither the Community Preservation Act funds vetted by the town’s Community Preservation Committee nor the nonfinancial articles traditionally fall into the purview of the Finance Committee.
The committee did vote to recommend the transfer of $2,000 from the Chester A. Vose Fund for the reduction of taxes.
McGrail told the committee that the Select Board will vote against the recommendation of Article 38, which asks voters if they will accept Village Drive and Fieldstone Lane as public ways.
“This will cost money, this will have financial impact,” said Mooney.
Long-term costs, said McGrail, will affect taxpayers because of maintenance hardships.
The Finance Committee was scheduled to meet next on March 23.
Marion Finance Committee
By Mick Colageo