The consensus among residents was that the public forum the Marion Board of Selectmen held on September 20 was helpful and should take place more often; however, residents disputed Town Administrator Paul Dawson’s claim that the consensus among townspeople was to renovate the existing Town House instead of building a new one at the Community Center property.
Five discussion topics were chosen based on their imminence – all relevant and definitely important – but none rose to the top of the wastewater and water-related discussion with more vigor than the Town House renovation topic did.
Dawson broached the subject referring it as the “continuing saga of the Town House,” saying that, after considerable discussion and at the suggestion of the Board of Selectmen, the Town would be compartmentalizing the renovation, taking it in “smaller bites” and “more manageable chunks,” as Dawson put it, spreading out renovation projects over time.
“I think the board and I – and I think many, if not most people – I think there seems to be consensus gelling around this idea that the existing Town House is sort of the sentiment – the majority of sentiment – that that’s where the attention should be, so we’re looking at the preservation of our existing Town House through a number of different ways,” Dawson said.
Dawson said he reached out to two members of the original Town House Building Committee, Bob Raymond and Bill Saltonstall, along with the architect of the original Town House renovation project and the facilities director, to look at a “plan of attack” to start with the envelop of the building to seal out moisture and replace exterior features like the roof and gutters.
And once we’ve protected the building from potential leaks, we can then focus on how best to renovate and continue progress of updating the Town House,” said Dawson.
One resident asked why the ball field next to the Town House wasn’t explored for a possible “extended Town House,” to which Selectman Randy Parker replied, “We thought that we could garner some CPC funds … to do what we can do to preserve it.
“The select board doesn’t feel we can afford anything else right now,” continued Parker. “Fix what we got, try to do it right, and fix it for the future.”
Selectmen Chairman Norm Hills added, “Plus the fact that we can’t just keep doing nothing. It’s gonna fall down around us.”
Resident Vincent Malkoski questioned Dawson’s use of the word “consensus,” saying, “Consensus of whom, the selectmen?”
It was the voters at Town Meeting who appropriated funding for a study of the Community Center site for a new building, and then no presentation of the findings were given to the voters during Town Meeting, said Malkoski.
“That is unacceptable,” said Malkoski. “I don’t care what the costs are, and maybe it didn’t work out, but they’re telling us that, in a meeting amongst yourselves, you had the consensus and somehow that represented the will of the town? That is not acceptable.”
Dawson responded, “The consensus I was referring to was not the consensus of the Board of Selectmen, although I think it is, but I think it’s the consensus of the town – it’s a measurement of a number of different votes that happened over the course of time at Town Meeting.”
Hills addressed Malkoski’s assertion that the study’s findings were not presented to the voters, pointing out that the board held a public forum at Sippican School presenting both plans back in March.
“It was a consensus of that meeting of everyone that was there that it was to vote the Town House,” said Hills.
Selectman Jon Waterman defended the notion of the consensus, saying that while he was running for Board of Selectmen earlier this year, many people approached him about renovating the Town House, even going as far as saying Waterman would only receive their vote if he supported preserving the Town House.
“Not one person came up to me and said ‘I want the VFW,’” said Waterman. “Not one person said to me, ‘I want the VFW or I won’t vote for you.’”
It was during a July meeting that selectmen expressed their opinion that a piecemeal-type approach to renovating the Town House would be the direction the Town would take.
“So you did it in a selectmen’s meeting. How many people were there?” asked Malkoski. “It’s not right … it’s not the way to do business. Put it out front, let people discuss it, and then move forward with it.”
Malkoski called it “troubling,” suggesting the Town House renovation was “rammed through” in a non-transparent fashion.
“Town Meeting is where you present that stuff,” Malkoski said. “That’s when we vote – it should not be a backdoor deal.”
Dawson later added, “Never before in my time here have we gone to Town Meeting with choices for construction. It’s talked about; it’s vetted in a series of public meetings and it’s presented.” Referring to the police station project and the Sippican School expansion, Dawson continued, “Never were there competing articles at Town Meeting. It didn’t happen then, and it didn’t happen now, and that’s because it’s imprudent to bring multiple articles to Town Meeting for the same type of project.”
“It’s about the money,” said Waterman, “and this town can’t afford $8 million to go to renovate it, and it can’t afford $5 million to build at the VFW site.
“The most cost effective way to do it is to do it over time by gradually fixing the existing Town House and using CPC funds … which means we can do the renovation for the minimal cost to the taxpayer.”
On a different matter – the Carver, Marion, Wareham Regional Refuse Disposal District (CMWRRDD), the town’s regionalized trash service – some residents wanted to know who should have been watching over matters before mismanagement and mishandling of finances became an issue.
What is important to remember, said Dawson, is that the CMWRRDD is a “separate body politic” and not a part of the Town of Marion.
“And I think people think it is,” Dawson said. “They don’t answer to me, to the Town of Marion, or the selectmen. It’s a separate board and they do their own thing.”
Then who supervises them, the public wanted to know. Dawson explained that the CMWRRDD has its own committee, with each of the three towns’ board of selectmen appointing two members. Those members, said Dawson, relied on the information provided to it by former executive director Ray Pickles, whom the committee fired back in February.
“They can only be as good and effective as the information they receive, and if that information is either inaccurate or simply untrue then it’s difficult … to monitor that properly,” said Dawson.
Dawson recounted how earlier this year the three towns became suspicious after Pickles issued them each an assessment for trash disposal after years of no assessments. The town administrators then discovered that Pickles had not performed a single one of the required annual audits since 2012. Funds were missing, as well as supporting financial documents, leaving the district in financial turmoil.
But now, Dawson stated, with the institution of new practices and the hiring of a new executive director, “We hope that we will be able to right the ship and ensure that what we experienced there won’t happen again – can’t happen again – and we’ll continue to march forward.”
The board also discussed the wastewater treatment project and the ongoing efforts to meet the EPA’s stricter limits on phosphorus and nitrogen. Regionalizing wastewater services with Wareham, Bourne, and Massachusetts Maritime Academy was also discussed, but a study is ongoing and further information won’t be available until the two-year study is completed.
The residents also heard a bit about water infrastructure upgrades and well site restoration, and the board briefly described an exploration of fire safety enhancement by adding more hydrants.
Marion Board of Selectmen
By Jean Perry