Marblehead Town Meeting to begin debates tonight

MARBLEHEAD-Town voters are expected to pack the Marblehead Veterans Middle School auditorium this evening as the purest form of democracy debates some major spending in Marblehead?s 2010 Town Meeting – and town officials are expecting that debate to continue for three nights.Town Meeting begins at 7:45 tonight and town boards have scheduled meetings for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the event that debate continues for three nights.The 51-article warrant includes the town budget, the $22.3 million state-mandated landfill cap and transfer station renovation and the proposed $28.8 new building to replace the Glover and Eveleth elementary schools.The Finance Committee has so far recommended approval of the landfill cap and transfer station work, and also on an $821,561 to monitor the effects of the former town landfill on neighborhood soil and water. The $821,561 includes a $706,961 one-time debt exclusion override. The rest will be raised from the tax rate.The committee recommended eminent domain takings for utility, sewer and storm drain purposes, part of the landfill closure project, but disapproved of Article 22, another Stony Brook Road remediation expense. The committee will report at Town Meeting on Article 23, the purchase of a home at 57 Stony Brook Road, part of the area affected by the landfill.Committee members also recommended approval of this year?s negotiated employee contracts, $379,615 for new town vehicles and $161,500 for the replacement of the police station roof and other building needs.How far past the landfill articles will the voters get?Depending on the debate tonight, they could reach Article 29, a $750,000 sidewalk repair proposal put forth by Selectmen William Woodfin. Selectmen voted first to include it in the warrant, then voted not to support it, and since then the FinCom has recommended indefinite postponement of it.Articles 30 and 31 concern a Pleasant Street traffic improvement plan. The FinCom has recommended passage of Article 31, the $1.6 million traffic improvement plan, which has received a $400,000 Massachusetts Highway Department grant, and will report to Town Meeting on Article 30, the proposed eminent domain taking of a former garage building opposite Pleasant and Village streets, which could be used to enhance the improvements.