Marblehead issues town report

MARBLEHEAD – Compiled by the Board of Selectmen, the 280-page 2009 Marblehead Town Report has food for thought as the town pumps out basements and unplugs storm drains in the wake of March’s record rainfall.According to the Conservation Commission, Marblehead has developed more than 95 percent of its buildable land. “With all the roofs, driveways, streets, parking areas and other impervious surfaces, we have built ourselves into one huge catch basin,” the commission warns.”All those little open fields, land depressions and pocket wetlands where storm water used to be able to collect and gently seep into the ground are, for the most part, gone.”Paper copies of the report are available at no charge at Abbot Hall and Abbot Public Library and the report is available online through a link on the town Web site, www.marblehead.org.This year’s cover is a 100-year-old photograph of the Boston and Maine railroad station, a former Pleasant Street landmark from 1880-1959. Today the National Grand Bank and Miller’s Plaza occupy that spot.In addition to the results of town elections, the actions of Town Meeting and lists of elected and appointed town officials and the 2009 graduates of Marblehead High, the Town Report includes the reports of numerous town boards and departments and lists of facts that are sometimes ironic.According to the town clerk, in the Dec. 8 state primary – the last election of 2009 – Marblehead Democrats outvoted Republicans 4-1, 3,250-832. A month later the results were somewhat different.The most popular month for births in 2009 was January, with 19 of the year’s 154 recorded births. The most popular months for marriages were August and September, with 13 marriages apiece, 26 out of a total of 77. June, the traditional wedding month, had only seven.The Fire Department logged 88 responses to carbon monoxide problems and 1,170 rescue calls. They also responded to 195 false alarms and 146 alarm malfunctions.The animal control officer was called out for 401 strays or loose animals and 155 fox sightings. Five of the foxes were put down and five more were listed as road kill. There were also 41 coyote sightings, three of which were listed as road kill.On a positive note the Health Department estimated that Marblehead has 1,351 smokers, 8.7 percent of the town’s adults (18 and over). The state average is 16.1 percent.