The Marion Board of Selectmen know that the citizens of Marion love their beautiful community and take the concept of aesthetics seriously, which is why on June 18 the board accepted Town Administrator Jay McGrail’s suggestion of creating a poll for residents to select their favorite color scheme for its new curbside trash and recycling carts.

            The selectmen authorized McGrail to sign the new curbside solid waste collection contract (pending minor adjustments in language) with Waste Management, which will begin curbside collection on August 1 using the current rear-loading collection method. This will allow a few weeks for the company and the town to conduct public outreach on how the new system will work and to deliver the 40-gallon trash and 60- gallon recycling receptacles to residents and begin automated collection September 3– but first, the town has got to choose a color scheme that will maintain Marion’s curb appeal, even on trash days.

            The Board of Selectmen and Waste Management will hold an informational public forum for residents this summer, and in the meantime McGrail will create an online color poll, post it to the website, and provide a link to the poll on Facebook “to let people pick what they like,” McGrail said.

            “I’ve received more questions about what color the barrels are going to be … than anything else,” said Selectman John Waterman.

            McGrail said he would select a few color schemes, and the one that receives the most votes will be the final choice.

            “Ultimately we’ll see which way the wind’s blowing and make a decision on the color,” said McGrail. “If that’s our biggest concern, then we’re in a good place.”

            McGrail praised the consultant it used to advise the town on the solid waste company bidding process, saying it was worth every dollar the town spent.

            “This was a pretty massive undertaking on the town’s part,” commented McGrail. “That’s a big change for the community of Marion.”

            In other business, Ken Steen, the developer of the 40B on Front Street, Marion Estates, has formally expressed his intent to develop a second 40B off Wareham Road near the Wareham town line.

            According to McGrail, Steen said he would be taking a different approach than he did for the first 40B. Rather than the application process moving through the state level, McGrail explained, the project would move through the process at the local level with assistance from the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP), and the project would go before the Zoning Board of Appeals – a process considered the “friendly 40B process.”

            “This,” McGrail stated, “allows the Board of Selectmen to play the role of that state agency in this process.”

            The board will hold a special meeting on July 18 and invite Steen to make a presentation on the proposed 40B.

            “The board will be able to, through me, try to negotiate what they think our conditions are for the best interests and the community’s concern’s … and what the board feels like it’s looking for to protect the community,” said McGrail. “[It] will allow the board to protect the interests of the community rather than the state.”

            Also during the meeting, Jody Dickerson, Marion Recreation Department director, asked the selectmen to officially increase the pay rates for this department’s seasonal employees to remain competitive amidst the gradual increase of the state’s minimum wage.

            Municipalities are exempt from the increased minimum wage rule that will raise the minimum wage by $1 per year until 2025 when the minimum wage reaches $15 an hour. This has affected the department that now finds itself struggling to retain past employees and attract new employees because of the discrepancy in pay. Dickerson commented that one of his lifeguards is a certified EMT and highly qualified for the position, but he is concerned about the pay incentive.

            The pay raises are already reflected in the Recreation Department’s fiscal year 2020 budget Town Meeting approved last month, but Dickerson needed the selectmen’s approval for the pay increases.

            “It [will be] difficult for us to retain employees if we continue to stay at the current minimum wage,” said Dickerson, who also suggested the board consider a proposal to implement step raises for seasonal employees to entice them to return year after year.

            McGrail supported Dickerson’s request, saying, “It’s really important to kind of move toward what Jody is talking about – if we’re able to compensate them fairly for what they do.”

            The following pay increases were approved for fiscal year 2020 only: lifeguards receiving $11-$11.50 per hour last year will be increased to $14 per hour, gate attendants who made $11-$11.50 last year will now earn $12, and seasonal maintenance workers who earned $11-$12 last year will make $12.75 this year.

            In other business, new Collector/Treasurer Katherine Milligan met with the board to discuss the Town’s cash management policy, or the lack thereof.

            According to Milligan, there are far too many different offices and locations in town where cash and check payments are collected, but it is her opinion that all payments should be made through the Collector/Treasurer’s Office, a policy in many other towns.

            “The treasurer … must take custody of all money and must account for all monies,” Milligan quoted from the collector/treasurer’s manual. “[A cash management policy] would allow me to tighten up on getting the money into my office at a more reasonable time and to kind of oversee anyone who has the opportunity to take cash in. … I don’t think any of the departments really had any restrictions on what they could do with their checks and their cash.”

            The board decided to allow Milligan to move forward in consolidating payment locations by first forming a list of departments that could phase out payment collection and update the board over the next three months.

            McGrail said he would like the Town to move towards an electronic payment-only system online eventually.

            In other matters, the board voted to join the Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative (CVEC) and authorized McGrail to appoint a member to act as the representative of Marion. McGrail is working with the Marion Energy Management Committee to fill that appointment.

            The board appointed Margie Baldwin as a full member of the Zoning Board of Appeals for the remaining three years of retired member Betsy Dunn’s appointment. Baldwin also serves on the Finance Committee and Cemetery Commission. William Tift was appointed as an alternate member.

            The board appointed Edward Hoffer to the Marion Cultural Council as a full member, and appointed five new members to the Council on Aging: Barbara Brown, Paul Naiman, Madeline Cook, Eric Pierce, and Nancy Moore.

            As the board has considered changing its reappointment process for regulatory boards and committees, it will arrange to hold July interviews for the following current members seeking reappointment: Cynthia Callow and Shaun Walsh for Conservation Commission, James Feeny and Vincent Malkoski for Marine Resources Commission, and Marc Leblanc and Michelle Smith for ZBA.

            The new bar and restaurant Mary Celeste, Front Street, received an alcohol license pending the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the Building Department. This was only the first step in the approval process, as it must also pass at the state level and then be returned to the Board of Selectmen for signature and release. The board also voted to allow for the application of a common Victualler license to serve food.

            The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen is scheduled for July 16 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Police Station, 550 Mill Street.

Marion Board of Selectmen

By Jean Perry

            The Marion Conservation Commission, on June 12, decided to respond to one property owner’s request to investigate a drainage pipe that extends from 692 Mill Street under Giffords Road onto an adjacent property owned by Eleanor Mello.

            Chairman Jeff Doubrava said he took a look at the pipe that he described as a black plastic perforated pipe with white PVC pipe running through the center, which appears to have been placed there relatively recently.

            The commission will attend a more thorough site visit before the next meeting and will send the property owner a letter requesting access to the property.

            According to Administrative Assistant Elizabeth Magauren, the house is currently rented to a tenant.

            “If it appears that this discharge is altering a resource area, then we have jurisdiction,” commission member Shaun Walsh stated. “If it’s just a pipe that is discharging water and a reasonable amount of water … not causing erosion or something like that then I wouldn’t do anything. We don’t solve people’s trespass issues. … Adding water to someone else’s property – that’s a different issue.”

            Walsh said perhaps the pipe is simply a sump pump drainage pipe, which, in that case, the property owner would be asked to take necessary steps to curb the water flowing onto Mello’s property.

            The commissioners agreed that, in general, the site is usually consistently wet with the presence of wetlands vegetation such as lily pads.

            Also during the meeting, the commission decided to send a letter to the Sippican Lands Trust fulfilling the SLT’s request to substitute black locust wood with pressure treated lumber for a boardwalk conditioned to be built at the Osprey March property on Point Road. The letter will order the SLT not to allow the lumber to be sawed at the site to avoid potentially toxic sawdust from polluting the wetlands.

            The commission will also send a letter to the owners of 99-100 Moorings Road advising them that siltation fence is still noncompliant with the commission’s order to replace it and must be rectified immediately, possibly with straw wattles as an alternative to plastic siltation fencing.

            In other matters, the commission issued an order of conditions for a Notice of Intent filed by JCV Investments, LLC, to remove existing septic and cesspool and replace them with a sewer pump and force main near wetlands at 534D Point Road.

            The commission issued a certificate of compliance requested by Francis Perry, Jr. at 25 East Avenue for an order of conditions from 1980 for a masonry retaining wall.

            The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission is scheduled for June 26 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Music Hall.

Marion Conservation Commission

By Jean Perry