Rumney Marsh sandpile draws Saugus crowd

SAUGUS – More than 30 people squeezed into the small Town Hall Annex Wednesday night to oppose a plan to remove a portion of the old I-95 roadbed in East Saugus.Representatives from the Department of Conservation and Recreation went before the Conservation Commission again to discuss the plan. Sand from the roadbed will be used to restore Winthrop Beach.Some issues came up at previous meetings about who in fact owns the property.However, on Wednesday, Albert Trifone, Chairman of the Conservation Commission, said according to a letter from the state, the DCR is the owner and not Saugus.”If this is acceptable to the commission, we really can’t take it any further,” said Trifone. “We can send it along to the Town Manager and the selectmen so they can see where we stand.”Jurisdiction of the property was transferred to the DCR from its predecessor, the Metropolitan Commission, in 1992, according to Trifone, who said it’s up to selectmen and the Town Manager to challenge it.However, Town Meeting member Peter Manoogian said the letter is “all speculative.””I think what we need to do is make sure the selectmen and Town Manager spend another $1,000 to make sure this is researched to see who owns the property ?” said Manoogian. “I don’t understand why you don’t want to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s.”While there were close to 40 in attendance, the numbers began to dwindle as discussion on tides and elevation, which was often tedious, droned on for two hours.Rachel Burckardt, a consultant working for the DCR, said a marsh restoration project will piggy-back on the sand removal project, which she said will help flood storage capacity.However, Jerry Concilio, who lives next to Rumney Marsh, said the project will destroy the area.”Thirty years ago you guys destroyed this area,” he said. “It took 30 years to restore this area ? There’s wildlife up there. You guys need material ? you guys just want this material. People walk up there, they enjoy this area. You take this down and you know what it’s going to look like?”Dawn Gaffney said the area has become home to countless animals.”We enjoy it and you’re just going to strip out their home,” she said. “I don’t want to look at 107, I don’t want to look at RESCO. And now we’ll have sand from you trucking sand all day.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].