Page 16 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, February 28, 2020 FIRE | FROM PAGE 1 a great job in building up the manpower. But we’re still a station short,” Cross said. “You don’t need a study to do this. Maybe where to put it. But you don’t need a study to do this,” he said. “I had to get somebody to work for me just so I could come here and talk. This is important. It should be the number one thing in the town.” The next three speakers – Alvah Street resident Ron Meuse, Precinct 9 Town Meeting Member Daniel Kelly and Richard P. Lavoie – cited a third fi re station as their top priority when they addressed selectmen. The night was supposed to be a selectmen’s listening session. But Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony Cogliano was outspoken in support of a third fi re station which would be located on the west side of town. “This is something the entire board has endorsed,” Cogliano said. “It’s probably number one on my list. …. We don’t need a study to know we need a fi re station. Several other speakers echoed strong support for a third fi re station. The last speaker of the night – newly elected Precinct 9 Town Meeting Member Robert J. Long – declared “Let’s get it done; the sooner, the better.” “I’m thinking about an Article for Town Meeting for a study group,” Long added. With selectmen supporting the citizens’ calls for a third fi re station and with a number of new Town Meeting members as well as veteran members backing the recommendation to revive the proposal, it appears that there could be one or more Articles supporting such a project when the Annual Town Meeting convenes in May. In his address Tuesday night, Cross noted that voters actually had a ballot question in 2002 for a debt exclusion to build a third fi re station. “The manning part didn’t pass. It missed by 80 votes,” Cross noted. It should be apparent to anyone who lives in Saugus that a third fi re station is a critical need, he suggested. “It’s an eye test. Drive around this town anytime after 1 o’clock and just look at the traffi c,” Cross said. “Between Route 1, the schools that we have that are coming online and that are there right now, it’s just about impossible to get to the other side of town,” he said, “so I’m asking you to make this a priority number one. If you put together a committee, I would love to be on it. I got a lot of good information and I’m here “PRIORITY NUMBER ONE”: Saugus Fire Department Lt. William E. Cross III makes his pitch for a west side fi re station at Tuesday night’s “citizen input session” held by selectmen. (Saugus Advocate Photos by Mark E. Vogler) about a lack of a custodian cleaning the fl oors at the Saugus Senior Center. Selectman Debra Panetta said the town manager “is on top of this, trying to fi ll a spot.” “It’s something that’s on our radar,” Panetta said. Board of Health Member Shawn J. Ayube, who is also a newly elected Town Meeting member of Precinct 7, called the playground at the Lynnhurst Elementary School “an eyesore.” Eugene Decareau called for TELL US WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND: The Saugus Board of Selectmen was in listening mode on Tuesday night as they invited town residents to come down to Town Hall and express ideas on how to help make Saugus better. RIGHT BY YOU RIGHT BY YOU BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT to listen and I’m here to help.” Selectmen received a host of ideas from the residents attending Tuesday night’s forum: Several speakers expressed concerns about the use of the school buildings that would be closing once the School Department consolidates into three buildings, leaving the Oaklandvale, Lynnhurst and Waybright Elementary Schools. Selectmen told residents that JOE BONO owner of THE BERRY TAVERN, AL DENTE, BENEVENTO’S, AND BENCOTTO OVER 20 YEARS OF BANKING WITH EVERETT BANK “I can be myself and they can be themselves. Regular people doing business the right way.” the School Department would have to turn the buildings over to the town in order to commence community hearings on future use of those buildings. Several selectmen said they oppose the sale of the buildings and prefer to see them used to fulfi ll a town need, like a community center. Town Meeting Member Lavoie said he’d like to see a dog park set up in town, echoing an earlier suggestion made by Selectman Jeff rey Cicolini. “There are great dog parks in the area, but they are not in Saugus,” Lavoie said. Concerns were expressed TAX | FROM PAGE 13 VISIT US TO TALK ABOUT HOW WE CAN DO RIGHT BY YOUR BUSINES S 419 BROADWAY, EVERETT MA 02149 | 61 7 . 38 7 . 1 1 10 7 7 1 SALEM ST, LYNNFIELD, MA 01940 | 78 1 . 77 6 . 4444 Member FDIC Member SIF EVERETTBANK . COM Massachusetts spends 20 times more than Maine on desk jobs instead of fi lling actual potholes. Massachusetts’s #46 ended up behind Maine’s #4, Vermont’s #19, New Hampshire’s #24, Connecticut’s #44 and only slightly ahead of Rhode Island’s #48. “We always hear about how our elected offi cials are looking for more money to fi x problems, yet taxpayers almost never hear Beacon Hill politicians talk about how they plan to spend our money more wisely,” said Craney. more “transparency,” specifi cally line-item budgets to let residents know the breakdown of tax dollars being spent. He also said he wants to see job descriptions for every town employee. Bob Davis, organizer of the group called “Citizens for a Safer Saugus,” said he wants to see more eff orts taken to slow down traffi c to make the streets safer. “This should be somewhere on your priority list – posting speed limit signs and some enforcement,” Davis said. “We need something more to happen than lit-up signs. Maybe we need to go to 25 mph,” he said. Davis said he hopes the town will do more to reduce accidents and have fewer people killed or injured seriously. Precinct 6 Town Meeting Member William Brown, another organizer of Citizens for a Safer Saugus, said he would also like to see more done to improve traffi c safety. Precinct 3 Town Meeting Member Rick Smith said he thinks there is an opportunity in town “for more street cleaning…I think we have a trash problem in town.”
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