The Marion Special Town Meeting was held on Monday, November 24 at 6:45 pm at Sippican School. Of the two articles voted upon, Article S1 passed with an absolute majority and Article S2 was postponed until the next Town Meeting.
Article S1: To see if the Town will vote to amend Chapter 20 (Zoning) of the Code of Marion by adding the following article after Article XII: Article XIII – Stormwater Management Bylaw, commonly known as MS4. This article passed, with fewer than five “nay” votes.
Article S2 (Citizens’ Petition): To see if the Town will vote to authorize and direct the Marion Water Department, to establish permitting (residential) property owners to install, at their own expense, a secondary meter for outdoor water usage, such as lawn irrigation, gardening, feeding of livestock, swimming pools, or other non-sewer activities. This article was postponed to the next Town Meeting, May 2026.
Into the events of the meeting. Andrew Daniel had a lot of speaking to do on that night. As chair of the Marion Planning Board, he has worked extensively on the MS4 bylaw. He is also the citizen who submitted the Citizens’ Petition regarding water meters.
Referring to Article S1 (MS4 bylaw), Daniel said if it were to pass, public hearings with the Planning Board will begin in December. He clarified certain aspects of the bylaw that pertain to roads. He stressed maintenance of preexisting roads wouldn’t trigger action or further regulation, but new roads or extensive alteration would. For most requests, Daniel emphasized that most MS4 regulating would be done through the Planning Board with the remaining going through the Building commissioner’s office.
After little more than 10 minutes of deliberation, Article S1 passed with few “nays,” well over two-thirds majority voting in favor.
Next was the big event for the night, discussion around Article S2, the Citizens’ Petition submitted by Daniel, who stated he was originally inspired to make the petition by doing yard work and then speaking to those in other towns such as Fairhaven. Representatives in other towns told Daniel it was the “right and fair thing to do.” He said, “I know in years past it’s been talked about, to add a second meter, [but] it’s just talked about all the time.” He added, “Nothing ever comes of it. The conversation ends up dying. I felt like a Citizen’s Petition was a good way to get the conversation going.”
Following Daniel, Vice-Chair of the Select Board John Hoagland gave a presentation pertaining to town debt, water and sewer enterprise accounts, and possible effects from widespread second-meter adoption. Hoagland agreed changes should be made but said time and consideration must be taken in order “to implement minimal and fair sewer-rate changes, how to generate sufficient sewer revenues to meet sewer enterprise expenses and debt obligations.”
He noted the town has a current Water Department debt of $7,400,000, with the town paying $893,000 in principal and interest payments on said debt. He then said, “sewer gets much more interesting,” citing the sewer debt of $25,115,000 with the town paying $2,000,000 annually on principal and interest payments. The total town debt is $41,900,000 with an operating budget of $16,000,000. In order to maintain order in this delicate balance, Hoagland and the other Select Board members recommended an indefinite postponement of the article in order for Water and Sewer commissioners (the three Select Board members) to find equitable solutions which also don’t lead to the town facing hardship in debt payments.
In their worst-case scenario estimates, Hoagland cited around a 12% revenue loss from secondary-meter proliferation. Before disputing, Daniel, began, “I don’t want it to be a screaming match about water prices.” He noted all new buildings being required to hook into sewer per the Board of Health, especially focusing on the large-scale housing developments in the works.
Resident Vincent J. Malkoski recommended efforts be bolstered to get everyone on town sewer. Select Board member Norm Hills said efforts are underway to get more on sewer hookup following the Spring Town Meeting.
Resident Jonathan Henry commended making things more fair but didn’t support an indefinite postponement. He wanted to keep the conversation going to find a solution.
A motion to cut off debate passed. The vote for indefinite postponement failed with around 10-15 votes in favor, including the Select Board.
Not long after, another resident recommended and put a motion forth to postpone to next Town Meeting, rather than indefinitely, putting a time limit and ensuring urgency for discussion. This motion was quickly seconded by Select Board members.
The motion passed with over a two-thirds majority of voters.
Regardless of anything, this was a productive night for Daniel, who worked extensively on Article S1 as chair of the Planning Board and was the original proposer of the Citizens’ Petition, Article S2. He stated he wanted to get the conversation started, and the night surely showed that is the case, as it will continue to the lead up to the next Town Meeting in May of 2026.
Marion Special Fall Town Meeting
By Sam Bishop