NAHANT — A group of eight residents are calling on the Board of Selectmen to provide a time certain for all articles listed on this year’s Town Meeting warrant in a push to make the annual event more accessible to disabled citizens.
“This is expected to be the most well-attended meeting in the history of the town,” said resident Edward Lonergan, who helped draft a letter detailing the request to Nahant’s Board of Selectmen late last month. “All the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) is trying to do is say ‘look, give a time certain.’”
Providing an estimated time for when each article will be discussed would make the warrant more inclusive to elderly and disabled residents who want to participate, but may not be able to withstand a meeting that has potential to be several hours long, Longeran said.
“Although I’m very vital, I only have one lung, I have impaired kidneys, and it’s a bit of a stretch for me to go down there and just stay and stay and stay,” he explained. “Whether I can do it, I’m not sure.”
With 43 articles, this year’s meeting warrant is one of the longest in Nahant’s history and includes two articles deemed so controversial they were removed from last year’s warrant. Local officials made the call in an effort to reduce the number of residents who attended 2020’s meeting during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The controversial items include Article 20, which asks the Board of Selectmen to dispose of Coast Guard housing on Castle Road and apply the proceeds from the sale to the town’s outstanding debt, and Article 22, which would give the town authority to enact eminent domain over a portion of the East Point property currently occupied by Northeastern University.
“As you know, these items have generated intense interest. In that posture, it is important that every effort be made to ensure all parties that the results, whatever they may be, shall have been adopted fairly,” the letter to the Board of Selectmen read. “This, in turn, requires that all interested citizens, particularly we elderly and/or disabled, be given an opportunity to effectively participate in the proceedings.”
The letter was signed by Lonergan, as well as Francis Barile, Kenneth J. Carangelo, Nancy B. Carey, Marcia K. Divoll, David Walsh, Flora F. Sigourney, and James J. Ward Jr.
Nearly one third of Nahant residents and more than 40 percent of Nahant voters are aged 65 or older, Lonergan said. He pointed out that, according to statistics from the Institute of Disability at the University of New Hampshire, roughly 35 percent of people in the U.S. age 65 or older also qualify as disabled.
In order to hold a fair, democratic proceeding, he said, Nahant needs to acknowledge its disabled and elderly residents and accommodate their needs accordingly.
While it may be too late to modify this year’s warrant, Lonergan added he hopes the selectmen consider the proposal for future Town Meetings.
“You’re not restricted by law. Law is a tool to achieve legitimate and good ends,” Lonergan said. “What the Board should have sat there and said was, ‘by the way, is there something we should do (for disabled residents)?’”
The Board did not return a request for comment by the time of publication.
Nahant’s Town Meeting is scheduled to take place at noon on the Flash Road athletic fields, located behind the fire station.
