SAUGUS — The town is set to host a special Town Meeting on Monday, Oct. 24, after the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to open a warrant and call a special Town Meeting after Town Meeting member Peter Manoogian submitted a petition with more than 200 signatories to call the meeting to the board.
The warrant, now posted on the town’s website, contains seven articles, the most significant of which concern the creation of a Supplemental Student Support Reserve Fund for Saugus schools, and the ongoing debate regarding WIN Waste Innovations’ proposed expansion of its ash monofil. Manoogian has been an outspoken opponent of the proposed expansion, and authored the resolution that will appear before Town Meeting later this month.
The proposal for the reserve fund was submitted by Town Manager Scott Crabtree, who told the board that Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration put an additional roughly $3 million into Chapter 70, which provides state aid to public elementary and secondary schools, this year.
“It’s a pretty significant increase, the idea is to look at student opportunities through the pandemic and students in the state fell behind and this money is looked at to try to support those endeavors, and the money wasn’t available at the time when we passed and appropriated our budget through Town Meeting,” Crabtree told the Board at its Sept. 21 meeting. “As a financial standpoint, I’m a little concerned that we wouldn’t want to use this money on the schools, to use this money on ongoing operations costs and expenses that are on an annual basis.”
Crabtree said he had surveyed members of the Finance Committee, as well as Town Meeting members, and members of the Board on the article before submitting it.
“I think this is a good thing with this money and I think that the parents could really get behind this and I think it’s really exciting and I think it’s a huge opportunity for the school department,” Crabtree said.
The article contains eight parts, and, if approved would raise and appropriate money to be deposited into the fund.
Funds would go towards developing enrichment programs outside of the school day, providing at-home tutoring for students in need, administering norm-referenced student assessments to identify deficiencies in math and reading, developing and implementing parent/guardian communication and training programs, supplementing existing ESL/ELL learners, ensuring access to technology for students who don’t have it at home, developing extended day programs for students as needed; and developing any program “deemed appropriate and proven effective” with the goal of bringing about student academic and social recovery after two years of remote learning.
In a statement, Superintendent Erin McMahon said the fund would go a long way towards bolstering the town’s schools.
“We believe this is a huge opportunity for the School Department to expand enrichment options to help engage our students and build pride in the schools,” McMahon said in a statement. “We look forward to exploring how these funds can be used to support athletics, the fine arts, and academics.”
The article regarding WIN Waste was submitted by Manoogian, and is a resolution opposing further expansion of the company’s ash landfill. Last month, the Board of Selectmen approved a Host Community Agreement between the company and the town that would allow the company to continue putting ash in the landfill for the next 20 years and exempting Saugus from paying tipping fees during that time. The resolution, if approved by Town Meeting, would be sent to the town’s delegation and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Martin Suuberg.
The resolution cites a November 2021 letter from Suuberg to state Rep. Jeffrey Turco (D-Revere) that states WIN’s proposed expansion couldn’t go forward under current state law given the landfill’s location, a state-designated area of critical environmental concern, and urges the delegation to “oppose any effort to modify the law or regulations relative to the Areas of Critical Environmental Concern” that might allow for the expansion of the landfill.
Three articles on the warrant were submitted by the Saugus Contributary Retirement Boad and ask the town to accept provisions of state law to increase the minimum monthly allowance for a member survivor allowance from $250 to $500; increase the benefit payed to survivors under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 21, Section 101 from $6,000 to $12,000; and give the board the authority to increase the maximum base on which the cost of living increase is calculated for retirees of the Arlington Retirement System from $14,000 to $18,000.
The final article before Town Meeting was submitted by Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony Cogliano and would amend the town’s Zoning Map by changing the zoning classification of the parcel located at 39R Forest Street from residential 2 to the Business Highway Residential District “as shown on the plan.”
Charlie McKenna can be reached at [email protected].
