Marblehead to hold hearing on warrant articles

MARBLEHEAD – Local taxpayers who wish to influence debate on the spending choices that are before the May 4 Town Meeting will get their chance Monday night at Abbot Hall.The Finance Committee is holding its annual public hearing on warrant articles at 7 p.m. in the selectmen’s meeting room to hear what the public thinks before making recommendations to the voters.The FinCom expects sponsors of articles that require funding to have cost figures available when the article is discussed.Those recommendations are posted online and published in a booklet distributed to voters at the meeting. This year there are 50 articles in the warrant and they are scheduled to be discussed in numerical order.Articles that may attract some attention are Article 21, which rekindles the debate over requiring property owners to remove snow from sidewalks; Article 31, which outlaws public use of marijuana and levies a $400 fine on offenders; Article 44, the purchase of the former WESX property on Naugus Avenue as open space.Only two involve zoning. Article 39 redefines a deck as a structure, instead of an area. Article 40, the longest warrant article in years, establishes Smart Growth in Marblehead and allows developers to combine residential and commercial use under Chapter 40R, which gives the town control over projects that involve affordable housing.The Planning Board is scheduled to hold a hearing on those articles Tuesday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. and will make recommendations to the voters at Town Meeting.The Finance Committee makes recommendations on most of the others, including Articles 22-29, which set negotiated salaries for police, firefighters and other town employees and town officials.