Marion held its Special Town Meeting on Monday night in Sippican School’s auditorium, and up for popular vote were three articles handling property transfers to the Select Board, a shared use path on Washburn Park Road and Spring Street, and the Sewer Enterprise Fund.
The meeting began with Select Board Chair John Hoagland reading off the first item, Article S1. This article focuses on the Marion Shared Use Path, and its approval grants land property transfers to the Select Board for path use. The article was passed unanimously with no discussion.
Select Board Vice Chair Toby Burr read Article S2, again focusing on shared use path use, specifically regarding altered layouts to Spring Street and Washburn Park Road with the addition of a dedicated shared use path lane. Resident Jennifer Stewart rose to comment, asking whether the path would go over where the current playground is located.
“I’ve always had concerns about this particular spot,” she added, fearing the path’s location and its proximity to a road that she said sees frequent tractor-trailer traffic.
Select Board Clerk Randy Parker clarified the shown diagrams did cover up the playground, but added it would be unaffected in the real-world development.
Lead project engineer Jeramy Packard came forward to speak, noting, “We have sufficient site distance in both locations,” and adding that the crossings have flashing lights to alert drivers when they are in use. He emphasized that the road reconfiguration and revised street “geometry” are designed to improve safety. It was also added that the shown diagrams were drafted by AI and thus did not actually show what final plans would look like. Another resident then asked if there were plans to reduce the speed limit, though Packard noted speed limits are set at the federal level and are therefore not in the scope of this project.
There were other questions about the emergency vehicles frequenting the road, and Packard noted that the team had to send drafts of the plan to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for review for this very situation, and it was approved.
The vote was subsequently held, and the majority of “yays” overwhelmed the two “nays,” thus passing the article.
Parker then read Article S3, which appropriated $1,297,895 from the Sewer Enterprise Fund for improvements to the phosphorus removal upgrades to comply with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations for Marion Pointe developments. Resident Alana Nelson asked how using the funds for phosphorus removal was better than using it for pipe replacement. Town Administrator Geoffrey Gorman clarified that cooperation with the EPA has led to this proposal being championed. Up for a vote, the article was then approved with a unanimous vote of approval by residents.
Thus, all three articles at the fall Marion Special Town Meeting passed, and the meeting lasted just under half an hour.
Marion Special Town Meeting
By Sam Bishop