Saugus Town Meeting debates waterfront overlay district plan

SAUGUS – Town Meeting members got down to work Monday and cleared three articles from the 27-article warrant but after a two-hour debate could not reach a vote on whether to approve a proposed waterfront overlay district.”I’m happy to have people concerned about East Saugus but East Saugus is paradise lost,” said Town Meeting member Peter Manoogian, referring to the epic John Milton poem “Paradise Lost. “For East Saugus it’s not ?better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heav’n.'”Before getting to the overlay proposal, Town Meeting members voted 40-2 to accept a statute that could pave the way for a senior tax abatement program. The program, if approved by the Board of Selectmen, would allow eligible seniors to work off a portion of their property tax bill.”This is just a draft,” said Town Meeting member Christopher Finn, who proposed the article. “We have to accept the statute so we can start the discussion.”Meeting members voted unanimously to accept a non-binding resolution to build a new high school. Manoogian said the purpose of the vote is to show the community and more importantly state School Building Authority that the School Committee, Board of Selectmen, Town Manager and Town Meeting are “speaking with one voice” when it comes to building a new high school.”It’s a way to say ?look, Saugus is serious,'” Manoogian said.Meeting members also voted unanimously to add a new section to the town’s bylaws regarding solid waste facility environmental performance standards.Board of Health Chairman Joseph Vinard said the ordinance came after many concerns were raised by residents of East Saugus – where Wheelabrator’s waste to energy plant is located – regarding noise- and health-related issues, but he said it’s not directed at any one entity. The article that regulates emissions, transient noises of moving vehicles, sounds from safety signals and warning devices and construction noise would benefit the entire town, Vinard said.Meeting members could not come to a consensus, however, on Article 24, whether or not to enact a waterfront overlay district designed to encourage economic growth, support water dependent and related uses as well as introduce mixed use developments into the area.Manoogian argued that the proposal would prevent junkyards, ash piles and incinerators, all things that have taken root in the area over the years.Town Meeting member Robert Cox wondered if the body should vote on a waterfront district when the state has yet to draw final floodplain lines. Town Meeting member Robert Long said approving another overlay district would diminish Town Meeting’s authority. Meeting member Bill Brown said he would not support the article because he wanted more detail.Selectmen Ellen Faiella and Maureen Dever also cautioned meeting members from voting for anything they felt uncomfortable with.”This is a very bold move,” Faiella said. “It doesn’t make it a bad one, just a bold one.”Meeting members Peter Rossetti, Al DiNardo, Brian Costin, Ann Devlin and Christopher Finn supported the article, calling it sensitive to environmental concerns, a solid framework to build on and the best way to encourage economic development.”I think it’s good to have this discussion and debate but we need to set a goal to attract health beneficial economic development for the town,” added Town Manager Scott Crabtree.”East Saugus paradise does not need to be lost anymore,” Manoogian said.Voters will decide the fate of that remark when Town Meeting picks the issue back up on May 12. Finance Committee Chairman Robert Palleschi said he didn’t think the financial articles would be ready until the following week, however. While the budget is largely done, he said they are waiting on some ancillary information for several other articles that have a financial impact.”A week and a half may be ambitious but I believe the budget is pretty much ready,” he said.Town Meeting will reconvene Monday, May 12 at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall auditorium.