Swampscott ERAC member eyes change to bylaw

SWAMPSCOTT – After serving for years on the Earth Removal Advisory Committee, at least one member would like to make a change in the town earth removal bylaw.Earth Removal Advisory Committee (ERAC) member Dan Dandreo said he would like to rewrite the bylaw prior to the next regular Town Meeting.”I want the bylaw to prohibit all rock crushing activity in town after 5 p.m. by 2011,” he said. “I’m going to push to rewrite this and get it passed at Town Meeting in May. “Dandreo said the impetus for rewriting the law stems from ongoing noise issues with Aggregate Industries, which have not been resolved.”We gave them (Aggregate Industries) 15 years to get their act together and they blew us off,” he said. “Noise continues to be a problem. At this point we need to rewrite the bylaw and ban rock crushing activity after 5 p.m. The town has given Aggregate all these years to modernize the plant. Allowing rock crushing until 8 or 9 p.m. is ridiculous. No other business in town is allowed to operate those hours.”The existing earth removal bylaw does not list specific hours of operation or prohibit activities during certain hours. Instead, it authorizes the Board of Selectmen to “impose reasonable conditions” and set hours of operations.Dandreo said ERAC has not discussed it as a board yet, but he plans on bringing it up in the near future.”If the ERAC recommends it to the Board of Selectmen – great,” he said. “If not I will submit a citizen petition, but I prefer to go through ERAC.”Town Administrator Andrew Maylor said changes to the earth removal bylaw could be put on the Town Meeting warrant one of two ways.Maylor said a citizens’ petition, which must be signed by 10 registered voters, could be submitted to the Board of Selectmen by the first week in February and the selectmen would be compelled to add it to the warrant.Maylor said the Board of Selectmen also has the authority to add an article to the warrant even if the article was not requested by a town board or resident petition.”The selectmen can choose to add an article to any Town Meeting warrant,” Maylor said. “Ultimately the selectmen control the warrant.”Maylor said if an earth removal bylaw change were on the Town Meeting warrant it would require a simple-majority vote of Town Meeting to pass.