Page 14 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2022 MASKS | FROM PAGE 1 nation rate among town residents prompted the board’s unanimous 3-0 vote to make the mandate an advisory. “I, for one, am against any future mandates,” Heffernan declared after the board’s vote on Monday (Feb. 7), which was held remotely via Zoom videoconferencing. “I think we are light years away from instituting another mask mandate,” Heffernan said. He was emphatic in stressing that there would be no effort on his part to support a future indoor mask mandate “without concrete proof from multiple sources that the masks will help.” If there were “a minor uptick” in the coming weeks, Heffernan said, it wouldn’t be enough to reinstate the mandate which the board approved last month. “Overall, the numbers are trending in a great direction,” he said. School Committee Member Joseph “Dennis” Gould asked Heffernan for a clarification of the advisory approved TOP 10 | FROM PAGE 1 the owners paid back in 2019. Here are this year’s top 10 taxpayers in Saugus based on assessed valuation: 1) Refuse Energy Systems Co.: Now known as WIN Waste Innovations (formerly Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc.), the operator of the incinerator at 100 Salem Turnpike (Route 107) – with its nine land parcels – has an assessed value of $123,964,998. The company will pay $3,083,009.50 in taxes this year. 2) Mayflower Square One: on Monday. “You really don’t say what the guidelines are,” Gould told Heffernan. “It’s not mandated,” Heffernan answered, noting that they are recommendations. “We’re not going to hold businesses accountable for not allowing people into their businesses if they don’t wear a mask,” he said. And there will also be a transition phase. The Board of Health sent out a letter to food establishments regarding the board’s downgrading the mask mandate to an advisory (see related story). Mask mandate for schools ends Feb. 28 Public School Buildings are not affected by the Board’s vote, because they come under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). DESE Commissioner Jeffrey Riley announced this week that public schools in Massachusetts will no longer be required to wear face coverings while indoors starting Feb. 28. The owner of the town’s shopping mall at 1201 Broadway (Route 1) is second on the 2022 list of assessed value at $87,992,400. Their taxes total $2,188,370.99. 3) Gerondelis Foundation Inc.: The owners of the shopping mall and commercial land at 400 Lynn Fells Parkway and several restaurant buildings – including Kelly’s at 595 Broadway, has a 2022 assessed value of $48,736,680 – more than double of what it was three years ago ($19,167,220). It will pay $1,212,081.23 in property taxes this year – But students and staff may still be required to wear face coverings in certain situations, according to Riley. Meanwhile, local businesses will have the prerogative to require masks in their establishments if they wish. Ken Strum wanted to know whether lifting the mask mandate means that residents could resume their board games at the Saugus Senior Center. “I’d say go for it. Why not?” Heffernan told Strum. “I can wholeheartedly say that’s fine,” Public Health Director John R. Fralick III told Strum. What about the parties held at the Saugus Senior Center which often involve up to 60 people? Strum asked. Fralick said he didn’t think there would be a problem with that, but that he would be in touch with Senior Center Director Joanne Olsen soon to discuss the COVID-19 protocols. Strum said he’s glad to be able to forgo facemasks in the future. But he also stressed the benefits he has received from wearing masks over the more than double ($494.130) of what it paid in 2019. 4) AvalonBay Communities, Inc.: This apartment complex consisting of more than 500 units at 1 Founders Way is assessed at $90,816,400. Its 2022 taxes are $1,090,704.96. 5) New England Power Co.: Adding up its electric transmission rows, buildings and personal property, the utility has a 2022 assessed value of $35,541,850. It will pay $883,925.81 in property taxes this year. 6) Lowes Home Center, Inc. at 1500 Broadway has last two years. “I haven’t had as much as a cold. I believe in them,” he said. COVID hit a record high in January In her briefing, the town’s Public Health Nurse, Teresa Riley-Singh, noted that in January Saugus experienced its greatest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases – 1,753 – which was more than double the 830 cases reported in January of last year. “The good news is the death rate is about the same for each month. It tells us that the vaccine does work,” Riley-Singh said. “In the coming months, we’ll see the cases coming down. Most of the people are testing at home,” she said. When it came time for his report, Fralick agreed there has been “a precipitous dropoff” in COVID cases since the town experienced “768 cases in a single week.” “The important thing to realize is that we’ve experienced a seven-day period that we haven’t seen in months and months – and 76 percent fula 2022 assessed value of $20,533,380 with a total tax bill of $510,665.16 for this year. 7) Shops at Saugus, LLC: The strip mall at 352, 356, 358 and 366 Broadway has a 2022 assessed value of $19,991,400. It will pay $497,186.12 in taxes this year. 8) HD Development of Maryland: The retail business at 564 R Broadway has a 2022 assessed value of $18,434,420 and the owners will pay $458,464.03 in property taxes for 2022. 9) Saugus Commons Assoly vaccinated in town,” Fralick said. “I recommend that we roll back the mandate from fullblown to advisory status. … I don’t see any basis for continuing the indoor mandate to March 7 [when the board was scheduled to reevaluate whether to continue or lift the mandate],” he said. Heffernan called adopting Fralick’s recommendation “the right thing to do,” also noting it was “the right thing to do” in implementing the mandate back in January after the record-setting escalation of confirmed COVID-19 cases in town. “I’m shocked,” Heffernan said. “We used to see 200 to 250 cases a day. Today, it was seven. I am 100 percent behind John’s recommendation to take off the mask mandate,” he said. Board of Health Members Geraldine Gatchell and Maria Tamagna agreed. “I think it’s time to let people decide whether or not they want to wear masks in public,” Tamagna said. ciates: The apartment buildings at 48 and 77 Newhall Ave. have a total assessed value of $36,371,300. With a residential tax rate, the owners will pay $436,819.31 in property taxes this year. 10) Federal Realty (Kmart): This strip mall at 156 Main St. has a 2022 assessed valuation of $16,927,600. The owners will pay $420,989.41 in taxes this year. (Editor’s Note: This information was provided by Acting Deputy Assessor Ron Keohane of the Town of Saugus Assessors Office.) NAME CHANGE | FROM PAGE 9 ficials would attend and “make a pitch to us.” “This is not a landfill committee. It never was. This thing started because of noise violations. That’s why I started this thing. That’s why I wanted this thing to move forward,” Heffernan said. “Even the people who are against Wheelabrator on the subcommittee have stated it’s positive…Nothing is off the table. Am I saying to the DEP that we are going to raise the height of the landfill? Absolutely not. That has never once been discussed. Not once. But nothing is off the table. Nothing.” At that point, Manoogian told Heffernan, “You’re not going to bully your way into a landfill expansion. You want to bully your NAME CHANGE | SEE PAGE 18
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