Page 2 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JAnUAry 10, 2025 COOPERATE | FROM PAGE 1 Board of Selectmen. It belongs with the Board of Health, working in conjunction with the town manager,” she said. Panetta, who is also one of the five committee members, and Precinct 10 Town Meeting Member Peter Manoogian – who chairs the committee – attended this week’s Board of Health meeting to provide a presentation of the committee’s report. Landfill expansion vs. commercial development These were the major components of the Ash Landfill Closure Committee’s report: · The original 1984 tax agreement and the 1994 agreement clarifying the original one · The Ash Landfill subdivision plans of 2003 and 2017, which discussed commercial development of the ash landfill along with recreational uses and a solar farm · The Saugus DPW solar farm vs. a WIN Waste Solar Farm. In lieu of taxes, Ameresco pays the town $20,000 annually under a 20-year lease agreement for the 4-acre DPW solar farm. A WIN solar farm occupying 235 acres would generate an estimated $1.2 million a year. · Commercial development of the ash landfill would generate an estimated $5.6 million a year in tax revenue. Under WIN Waste’s plans to expand the ash landfill, there would be no development activities and no “forever” economic benefit to Saugus. Lawrence A. Simeone Jr. Attorney-at-Law ~ Since 1989 ~ * Corporate Litigation * Criminal/Civil * MCAD * Zoning/Land Court * Wetlands Litigation * Workmen’s Compensation * Landlord/Tenant Litigation * Real Estate Law * Construction Litigation * Tax Lien * Personal Injury * Bankruptcy * Wrongful Death * Zoning/Permitting Litigation 300 Broadway, Suite 1, Revere * 781-286-1560 lsimeonejr@simeonelaw.net ADDRESSING THE BOARD OF HEALTH: Donald Musial, director of ash monofills for WIN Waste Innovations, offered his views on the expansion of the ash landfill at Monday’s meeting. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) “Mike Serino, former Chairman of the Board of Assessors, issued a report regarding forever development opportunities at the landfill verses 20 more years of ash dumping, which would result in a 100 foot high landfill with no economic development opportunities,” Manoogian wrote in a cover letter that accompanied the committee report to the Board of Health. But expansion of the ash landfill would not be possible without a change in state environmental regulations and approval by the Board of Health. WIN Waste hopes for expansion Donald Musial, director of ash monofills for WIN Waste, agrees that current regulations won’t allow for expansion of the ash landfill. But he hasn’t given up on the possibility that there’s still two decades of life left in the ash landfill. “We believe that there’s still value to that agreement,” Musial said of the informal host community agreement, which passed on a narrow 3-2 vote, which two of the selectmen said they supported as “an insurance policy” in case state environmental regulations were later weakened. “I believe there’s a lot of value to the town with 20 years of operations. I still think there’s an avenue to pursue on that,” he said. Musial said he’s worked for WIN Waste for about 25 years, overseeing all four of the company’s monofills. Contrary to what members of the Ash Landfill Closure Committee say, WIN does have a closure plan approved by the state and last updated in 2017, according to Musial. There’s also an approved post closure plan, he said. Musial amplified his comments at Monday’s meeting with the following statement to The Saugus Advocate: “WIN Waste participated on the Landfill Committee that spent more than 18 months discussing and negotiating how the Town could partner with WIN to maximize the COOPERATE | SEE PAGE 3
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