Saugus article for parking fines to be revamped

SAUGUS – It looked as if the annual Town Meeting would not escape without the need for a meeting within a meeting, but Town Manager Andrew Bisignani said he doesn’t believe now that a special meeting will need to be called.An article seeking to establish a revolving account to deal with parking fines was initially going to be crossed off the warrant because the town was told by the Department of Revenue that it wasn’t valid.However, Bisignani said the DOR also offered an opinion on how to file a correctly worded article.Rewriting the article, however, is not allowed, which meant Bisignani would have had to ask the Board of Selectmen to call a special Town Meeting to be held within the annual Town Meeting, which is not unusual. However, an opinion issued by Town Counsel John Vasapolli said that needn’t be done in this case.Bisignani said because the intent of the article is not going to be changed by the rewording, he should be allowed to amend the article rather than scrapping it to file a new one.”The scope of the article is not changed,” he said. “So it’s appropriate to amend it.”Parking clerks have written more than $250,000 in fines since last July but the town has collected only a nominal amount on the fines. Bisignani said one problem is the town simply doesn’t have the resources, or the expertise for that matter, to go after the unpaid fines.To remedy that, he inked a deal with a company designed to process and collect parking fines. The company will get a flat rate of $5 per ticket for its troubles.But Bisignani said he needs a mechanism under which to handle the incoming funds and from which to pay the company, which is where the revolving account comes in. Approval of the warrant article will give the town that vehicle.While some have argued that the article needs to be refiled, Bisignani said he was prepared to argue his case on the floor of Town Meeting, which officially opens Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall auditorium.