Swampscott special Town Meeting begins Tuesday

SWAMPSCOTT – The special Town Meeting, which gets underway Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Swampscott High School auditorium, is going green.The special Town Meeting warrant has 10 articles, some of which are routine and are included on all Town Meeting warrants, but several of the articles are designed to help the town in its quest to become a Green Community.Articles four through seven are all related to zoning changes the town needs to adopt in order to receive the Green Community designation from the state.All articles related to zoning changes require a two-thirds majority vote to pass.Town Administrator Andrew Maylor said if provisions necessary to receive a “Green Community” designation from the state are adopted, the town may then be eligible for grant monies in excess of $130,000, which could be used for energy efficiency improvements.The town initially applied for the designation, which is awarded by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, in May, but at that time, it met only four of five requirements.The problem in meeting state requirements was with the adoption of the new local zoning bylaws, which would allow renewable and alternative energy research facilities in town. In May, Town Meeting voted to change the zoning bylaw, but the changes did not meet the state requirements because of its wording.Maylor said if the four articles are passed at the special Town Meeting the technical requirements will be met for the designation and possible accompanying funds. A special Town Meeting was required to vote on the articles because the grants deadline is Nov. 19. Maylor expects a cost of $2, 000 for the meeting, but said the town may receive up to $138,000 in grants.Town Engineer Victoria Masone, who is on the Renewable Energy Committee, said the articles are very similar to what was passed at the annual Town Meeting in May.?This is formality in the process of accepting the May articles to become a Green Community,” Masone said. “There are a lot of steps involved in making zoning changes and we just need to tweak what we did in May.”The costs associated with applying to become a “Green Community” were paid for with a previous grant. In the fall of 2009, the town, in a joint application with Salem, was awarded a planning assistance grant from The Green Communities Program at the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER). The program was established to help municipalities implement energy saving measures to reduce their environmental impact and greenhouse gas emissions.Funding for the grants and program are provided by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the Green Communities Division of the DOER, using money from the auction of carbon allowances, which provided 103 communities with $1.2 million in private energy consulting services.Article 8 on the warrant is also a zoning article, but it was submitted by a resident petition with more than 100 signatures. If passed, it would give the Zoning Board of Appeals explicit authority to grant special permits for commercial signs in residential districts in town. The petition was drafted by an attorney at the request of Marblehead resident Dr. Ronald Plotka, who has a dental office on Humphrey Street.Plotka, who has been in business in town for more than 40 years, has been battling with the town for more than a year over signage restrictions.The first article, a routine article, allows town committees and board to make reports.The second article asks Town Meeting to approve funding two bills for office supplies that were incurred in 2008, 2009 and 2010, but were not paid. The town owes $320.10 to Staples and $2,056.16 to W.B. Mason.The third article asks Town Meeting members to vote to accept a new provision in Mass General Law that makes changes in the senior work-off abatement program.Assistant Assessor Donna Champagne O’Keefe said the work-off abatement program that is place currently requires the senior, who applies for the abatement to perform the actual