Saugus roads repaving project gets underway today

SAUGUS – Department of Pubic Works Superintendent Joseph Attubato will be hitting the road beginning today with his annual repaving project.Attubato said he has a lot of ground to cover this year and hopes to hit it all.”Some are small streets, but all of them need attention and we’re going to give it to them,” he said.The project is funded through Chapter 90 money, which comes from the state and is earmarked specifically for road repairs.The streets to be targeted this summer include School and Saville streets, Brookfield Avenue, Church and East Denver streets, Greystone Road, Harwich and Hazel streets, Holden and Laconia avenues, Pearl Road, Springdale Avenue, Susan Drive, Sussex Street, Tuscan and Venice avenues, Waban Street, Warren Avenue, Greatwoods Road, Hobson Street, Westland Avenue and Willow Court.Keeping in line with a ruling from Town Meeting, Attubato said he will also be tackling some sidewalks as well.”We’ll do both sides of Central Street from Lincoln to Hurd Ave. and the handicap ramps,” he said.No parking signs will go up on the streets that are being refinished and Attubato said they would stay there until the completion of the project.When Town Meeting opened Monday, it began with a beloved member of the town essentially saying goodbye.Town Moderator invited Father John Mulloy of Blessed Sacrament Church to give the invocation since he would be leaving town next month when he moves to a new parish.Mulloy thanked residents and various departments for helping to make his job and his life easier, and he urged meeting members to pay attention. He challenged them to listen carefully to what others had to say, to have the courage to speak up and to remember the weakest, who just might need their help.He also urged them to make decisions that are for the common good and “never be caught up in the pettiness of what others believe.”Words Town Meeting could adopt for every opening.Town Meeting member Al DiNardo of Precinct 4 was following a similar line of thought when he said he was thinking of introducing a new bylaw that would require people to say hello to each other in passing.”In this age of cell phones and iPods people are just in a different place,” he said. “No one says hello anymore.”DiNardo said he is tired of people brushing by him, off in their own little worlds. He said he thinks it’s time for people to face each other again, be respectful and at the very least tip their hats and nod their heads in greeting.”I think the whole the world needs a breather,” he said.But he said he’d be willing to start in Saugus.And once people are on speaking terms again, he said he’d work on tackling rude drivers.Selectman Peter Rossetti said he, too, is thinking of adding an article to the Town Meeting warrant. Submitted by the Board of Selectmen, Rossetti said the article would require Town Meeting to add “Citizen’s Forum” to the end of each of its meetings.Rossetti said it seemed to him that if everyone was going to raise a ruckus regarding freedom of speech at Selectmen meetings, then it should apply to all meetings with elected officials.”It’s facetious of course, but then, you never know,” he said.Perhaps the adults in town simply need to take a cue from their younger counterparts and learn to relax and go with the flow.When fifth graders learned a 30-year tradition of heading out for a week of overnight camp had come to an end before they got their chance to go, they took the announcement in stride. They also had faith that the replacement program being put together for them right here at home would be just as great. And by all accounts Adventure Week was.After a week of hiking nearly every trail in Breakheart Reservation, climbing rope ladders and high wires at Project Adventure in Beverly, participating in music, art and gym programs and a closing dance complete with disc jockey and video montages of the weeklong event, the adventure was deemed exhausting but highly successful.Organized by elementary principals