April 15, 2008

By Kenneth J. Souza

A special meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen was called to order in the Marion Town House on Tuesday, April 15 at 7:00 pm by Chairman Roger Blanchette. Also present were Selectman Jonathan Henry and Town Administrator Paul Dawson. Selectman Andrew Jeffrey was not present for the meeting.

The board first approved the minutes of the March 4 meeting, then signed and approved one-day alcohol licenses for the VFW Post 2425 for events on April 26 and May 3; for the Marion Mallet Club for an event on May 31; and for private parties on Front Street, Cottage Street, and Holmes Street.

The board also granted an extension of entertainment hours for Tabor Academy's Reunion Weekend slated for June 20-22, 2008. The entertainment will be allowed to play through 11:30 pm on Saturday evening, June 21. Likewise, the board also granted permission to Tabor Academy to close off a portion of Front Street between Ryder Lane and Cottage Street during the school's commencement ceremony to be held on Saturday, May 31 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm.

After denying a series of requested water/sewer bill abatements, the board also unanimously voted to appoint Christina Bascom to the Marion Parks Committee and approved a recommendation from Town Accountant Judith Mooney to adopt the new standard IRS mileage reimbursement rate of 50.5 cents per mile for the 2008 calendar year.

Under the Town Administrator's report, Mr. Dawson first noted a request from Planning Board Chairman Joseph Napoli to hold a Special Town Meeting within the upcoming May 19 Annual Town Meeting. The purpose of this Special Town Meeting would be to consider two additional amendments to establish a Neighborhood Overlay District (NOD). Public Hearings on these proposed amendments are scheduled to open on Monday, May 5 at 7:30 pm.

"It's been our practice to not consider any money articles after 10:00 pm," Mr. Dawson said. "But it might behoove us to open the Special Town Meeting (first) and then get through those articles."

"The urgency is just to establish this Overlay District as outlined in the map," Mr. Napoli said. "It encompasses from The Wave Restaurant down Spring Street over to the Getty Gas Station and extends over to the L'Auberge property."

"This comes out of the 1996 Growth Management Report which was about creating NODs," said Planning Board member Tom Magauran. "What it effectively does is it gives us the flexibility ... to create Residence E properties, which would allow a greater density and mixed use (within the area). Could it wait until the fall? Yes, it could. But we prefer not to miss this opportunity."

"I'd like to see this done at the beginning of the first night of Town Meeting," Chairman Blanchette said. "I think that's when we'll have the greatest number of people present ... if we wait until the end, we're likely not to have a quorum."

"The warrant for the Annual Town Meeting is closed and has been posted," Mr. Dawson said. "There's no problem preparing a Special Town Meeting warrant, but the window of opportunity is getting smaller. It can be done, but I do want to point out that the Town Moderator recommended against doing the Special Town Meeting immediately after opening the Annual Town Meeting. He recommended we hold the Special Town Meeting (at the end)."

"On the one hand I really applaud what I see as a pro-business move being proposed here," Selectman Henry said. "But I'd prefer we convene a Special Town Meeting for this purpose on Tuesday, May 20."

With that, the board unanimously voted to approve holding the Special Town Meeting as such.

Mr. Dawson next noted that having recently changed the locks at the Marion Town House, he has been inundated with requests for keys to access the building. "It makes sense to issue keys to the chairmen of various committees and also have a key available at the Marion Police Station which other boards and committees (that don't meet on a regular basis) can sign out as needed," he said. "It's been the practice in the past that every member of every committee gets a key."

"As far as I know, only the chairman of the committee has been given a key," Chairman Blanchette said. "I think that makes the best sense."

"While I respect what you say, I don't think that's been the case," Mr. Dawson said. "Clearly people other than the chairmen have had keys ... and I think it makes sense to limit the number of keys out there."

Mr. Dawson next noted that they've received a final report from Camp, Dresser and McKee (CDM) on the town's wastewater treatment plant capacity. "The report is extemely technical which goes into considerable detail on plant capacity and infiltration and inflow," Mr. Dawson said. "The bottom line is it does gives us a capacity number for the plant, but the caveat is we'll need to address other things."

As such, Mr. Dawson suggested scheduling a meeting with representatives from CDM to fully explain the details within the report. The meeting will likely be held on either Tuesday, April 22 or Tuesday, April 29.

"I agree ... (but) I think there are potential problems in getting us to achieve those numbers," Chairman Blanchette said. "The report would suggest that there is capacity for additional (sewer) hookups, but those numbers aren't quite true."

Mr. Dawson said copies of the final report will be available to review at his office.

"Just a word of caution to those who might read it: they need to fully understand it," Mr. Dawson said. "It talks at great length about our needs to increase the limits of our discharge permit. It is a very technical document, but it is also a public record."

In other matters, the board:

* Accepted a letter of resignation from Peter Perkins who is stepping down as longtime Plumbing and Gas Inspector with the town, with regret. "He was authoratative, fair and he is a great guy," noted Selectman Henry. "He is a great man and he was always very nice and pleasant to everyone. It's very sad that he's leaving. He'll be a tough guy to follow."

* Received a letter of resignation from Susan Grosart, who is stepping down from the Marion Tree Committee.

* Received a letter of resignation from Robert Marso who is stepping down from the Marion Council on Aging (COA) Board. In turn, Mr. Marso wished to nominate Andrea Keene to replace him and also recommended that Pam LaCrosse and Jane Barker be reappointed to the COA Board.

* Noted a Household Hazardous Product Collection Day will be held on Saturday, May 3 at both the Wareham Municipal Maintenance Area off Charge Pond Road and the Carver Salt Storage Facility on Rochester Road off Route 58 in South Carver. The collection will take place between 9:00 am and 12:00 noon. The following hazardous items will be accepted: pesticides, household chemicals, oil-based paint, antifreeze, motor oil, spent gasoline, lead-acid batteries, and products containing mercury along with empty propane tanks.

* Received notification from Governor Deval Patrick's office advising that Marion's Chapter 90 funding for Fiscal Year 2009 will likely be $133,101. "It's a little bit lower than last year," Mr. Dawson noted.

There being no further matters to come before the board, they unanimously voted to adjourn for the evening at 8:05 pm.

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