A few Marbleheaders pass land cleanup overrides

MARBLEHEAD – Marbleheaders approved two one-year overrides Monday with the smallest voter turn-out in recent memory.Question 1, which will raise $127,800 to monitor soil and water quality in the area of the former town landfill, passed by a 554-229 margin.Question 2, which will raise $505,000 for the remediation of property on Stoneybrook Road, passed by a 452-332 margin.Both expenses will be covered by one-time bond issues.The 784 voters who turned out for the special election comprise 5.4 percent of the town’s 14,494 registered voters.The vote was counted shortly after 8 p.m., in contrast to the town’s usual slower tallies and Town Clerk Robin Michaud left Abbot Hall by 8:30 p.m.Question 1 passed in each of the town’s seven precincts. Question 2 lost in Precinct 2 54-46, but won everywhere else. Only one blank was cast in the entire election, on Question 1.In contrast, the voter turn-out in the 2007 special election, which dealt with landfill issues, was 18 percent and a school-related special election last year brought out 24 percent.An additional $242,400 for the Question 1 monitoring program will be raised as part of the town’s Fiscal 2010 budget appropriation.According to a fact sheet prepared by Director of Finance John McGinn and Town Administrator Tony Sasso, Question 1’s $127,600 will cost an additional 2.4 cents per $1,000 valuation and Question 2’s $505,000 will cost an additional 9.4 cents per $1,000, for a total of 11.8 cents per $1,000.The owner of a $519,000 median single family home will pay an additional $61.39 in the next year if both questions pass. The owner of a $698,000 average single family home will pay $82.56 more.