The Marion Board of Selectmen met June 2 to discuss various topics including the appointment of a new assistant harbormaster, the search for a new fire chief, and updates on the bike path.
The board heard from Harbormaster Michael Cormier on the topic of appointing Peter Bourgault as assistant harbormaster and assistant shellfish officer. Bourgault served with the U.S. Coast Guard for 20 years and is now retired.
“Peter’s background and training is perfect for our unit,” said Cormier. “He’ll be a tremendous asset to my department.”
Following a brief discussion and some light joking, the board voted unanimously to appoint Bourgault to the positions of assistant harbormaster and assistant shellfish officer.
The board heard from Town Administrator Paul Dawson on the status of two projects underway for the Town of Marion. The first is the development of the new bike path, a multi-town, multi-state project that would stretch 70 miles and connect Providence, R.I. to Provincetown.
Last week, Dawson met with members of the Marion Pathway Committee, officials from the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD), and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. In the meeting, it was announced that funding has been put into place in the federal fiscal year 2019 budget for the construction of the Marion bike path.
“They have placed funding in the amount of approximately $3.4 million to cover the construction costs of the bike path from the Mattapoisett town line, down over the railroad bed, through and over to Front Street and across through to Washburn park,” Dawson said. “It was really good news all around.”
The funds will be available for FY19, which begins on October 1, 2018.
“While that may seem far off, it really isn’t that far away,” Dawson said.
Additionally, Dawson updated the board on the search for a new fire chief.
“We have completed the preliminary process of the fire chief search,” he said. “We will have a series of interviews for the full Board of Selectmen to have.”
The first interviews will take place at 5:30 pm on Thursday, June 4. The second series of interviews will take place at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, June 9. The interviews are all open to the public and will take place at the Town House conference room located at 2 Spring Street in Marion.
“I’m very pleased to say it was a good process to go through,” Dawson said. “We are in an extremely fortunate position to have a number of really well qualified and very talented people in the pool. The board will not be disappointed.”
Current Fire Chief Thomas Joyce is set to retire on June 30 after six years of service to the town.
Other business at the meeting included appointment requests for two individuals seeking to be placed on the Zoning Board of Appeals. Discussion of the first potential appointee, Kathleen Mahoney, was tabled until the current members of the ZBA can interview her.
The other candidate, Joanna Wheeler, had already met with the ZBA and received a recommendation. The selectmen voted unanimously to appoint her to the ZBA.
The next scheduled meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen is June 4 at 5:30 pm at the Marion Town House to conduct fire chief hiring interviews.
By Andrew Roiter
