SAUGUS — The warrant for next week’s Special Town Meeting, set by the Board of Selectmen weeks ago, now appears to be in a bit of a state of flux, with the School Committee pushing to reopen the warrant to insert a number of articles seeking to access the Student Support Reserve Fund.
The warrant contains just four articles — submitted by the Cemetery Commission, Saugus Cable TV, Precinct 2 Town Meeting member Robert Camuso, and Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony Cogliano. But, School Committee Chair Vincent Serino has indicated his committee intends to put forward a number of proposals to access the $4 million in the reserve fund, which was created by Town Manager Scott Crabtree and enacted by Town Meeting last fall. Despite an indication from Serino that those proposals would appear on the Special Town Meeting warrant, they are not on the document posted to the town’s website.
Serino has simply said he is working on getting the proposals on the warrant. But, Serino — and the committee — have little time to do so, with the Finance Committee convening the evening of June 21 to review the financial articles on the warrant and make recommendations. Absent a recommendation from the Finance Committee, Town Meeting cannot take up the proposals.
It is unclear exactly how many proposals the School Committee would put before Town Meeting. At a Finance Committee meeting in March, Saugus Public Schools officials presented six proposals to access the funds. Since then, officials crafted at least one additional proposal for $100,000 to hire a school resource officer for a year.
The FinCom in March appeared supportive of the first six proposals, but they never made it to the Annual Town Meeting warrant. The text of the article that created the fund does not indicate Town Meeting has to sign off for the monies to be used, only that the FinCom must approve any proposals. Still, school officials have said they plan to put the proposals before the full 50-member Town Meeting body.
Should the proposals not go before Town Meeting next week it is unclear exactly when they would, with the business of the Annual Town Meeting complete, and no indication that any other specials will be held. Last year, Special Town Meetings were held in October and November.
Elsewhere on the warrant, the Cemetery Commission is proceeding with the first phase of its proposed expansion of Riverside Cemetery. The town’s sole public cemetery has seen its space dwindle dramatically, with just fewer than 40 plots remaining available for purchase, according to Cemetery Superintendent John Falsacca.
The article, which failed to appear on the Annual Town Meeting warrant because of a clerical error, seeks $66,000 for the purpose of conducting a land survey to determine the feasibility of the land located across the river from the cemetery for expansion.
The article sponsored by Cogliano — Article 5 — seeks to rezone the parcel at 39R Forest St. from residential to the Business Highway Sustainable Development district, which would allow developer Sal Palumbo, who also owns 45 Forest St. and two properties on Route 1, to proceed with a proposed development on the site. The Planning Board last week recommended against approval of the article.
Article 3, sponsored by SCTV, seeks money for “the purpose of funding capital equipment” for the station’s studio/facility. An exact amount is not specified on the warrant, but SCTV Interim Director Rachel Brugman put a proposal before the Board of Selectmen last month to spend $85,000 overhauling the audio/visual systems in the Town Hall auditorium.
The final article on the warrant, submitted by Camuso, a longtime thermal mechanic, asks the town to adopt a responsible employer ordinance, which puts forward a number of conditions that bidders or subcontractors must adhere to while doing work for the town. Those conditions include paying “appropriate lawful prevailing” wages to employees, employee participation in training or apprenticeship for their trades, maintaining “appropriate” industrial-accident insurance coverage, and companies classifying employees as employees rather than independent contractors, among others.
The Special Town Meeting will convene Monday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m. in the second-floor auditorium at town hall. With the limited number of articles on the warrant, it appears likely Town Meeting will be able to conduct all of its business in one evening.
