Page 6 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, September 6, 2019 SABATINO INSURANCE AGENCY Call for a Quote 617-387-7466 Or email Rocco@sabatino-ins.com We cover: * Auto * Home * Boat * Renter * Condo * Life * Multi-Policy Discounts * Commercial 10% Discounts * Registry Service Also Available Selectmen won’t back down from “pay up or no pole” ultimatum to National Grid By Mark E. Vogler ational Grid is getting better at paying its outstanding bills on time – but not good enough for the Board of Selectmen. “I’m not trying to bust chops here,” Selectman Scott Brazis said at Wednesday night’s meeting before he and his colleagues voted to continue a motion approved back in July – to put all future pole installation requests from NaN tional Grid on hold until the utility pays the town more than the $47,000 it owes for public safety details at its work sites. “It’s getting better, but it’s not there,” Board of Selectmen Chair Debra Panetta said after recent records showed National Grid’s balance of unpaid bills is still $16,364.70. “I think the last time you came before us, we were pretty direct,” Panetta said to a National Grid representative. TOWN MEETING | FROM PAGE 1 http://www.sabatino-ins.com SABATINO 564 Broadway Everett, MA 02149 617-387-7466 Hours of Operation are: Mondays - Fridays 9am to 5pm Saturdays by appointment only from the PEG Access Enterprise Fund and be distributed under the authority and direction of the Board of Selectmen. The funds constitute the money received from ratepayers under the current Cable Television Renewal License Agreement and held in the enterprise fund. “The DOR [state Department of Revenue] has new requirements that local cable companies like ourselves set up enterprise accounts,” SCTV Board of Directors President Albert J. DiNardo told selectmen at Wednesday night’s meeting. “This is not asking for money from the town … this is comAUTOTECH 1989 SINCE Is your vehicle ready for the Summer Season?!! AC SPECIAL Recharge your vehicle's AC for the warm weather! Includes up to 1 IL. of Refrigerant* (*Most Vehicles) Only $59.95 DRIVE IT - PUSH IT - TOW IT! 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As a result of the new state regulations, the cable board will be switching from a calendar year budget to a fiscal year (July 1 to June 30) budget. The current plans are for SCTV to move into the Saugus Historical Society building at 30 Main St., once it vacates its current quarters at the back of the existing Saugus High School, which is set to be demolished next year. Since last summer, representatives of the Saugus Historical Society and Saugus Cable TV have been talking about a mutual arrangement that would satisfy the needs of both groups. Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Jeffrey Cicolini told DiNardo during Wednesday night’s meeting that he thinks the Saugus Historical Society building is the best location available to accommodate SCTV. It’s a relationship that accommodates both nonprofit organizations, he noted. “I feel this investment is not only needed, but warranted,” Cicolini said. But, when it came to a vote, Selectman Scott Brazis opposed the warrant article that would appropriate $550,000 The board voted to continue its July vote to the board’s next meeting, which is on Sept. 18. Selectmen will resume approval of applications for pole installations as early as the next meeting, or as soon as National Grid pays off its outstanding bills. “We aren’t going to allow a telephone pole to be put in the ground,” Brazis vowed at the July meeting. “The answer is going to be ‘No!’” he said. from the PEG Access Enterprise Fund for construction of a PEG access studio or facility. “I support the cable station and everything the board is doing,” Brazis said in an interview after the meeting. “But I can’t support spending that kind of money on a new place. I still think they could find a temporary place for a year and a half or two years,” he said. Brazis believes that SCTV could have found temporary or more permanent quarters in one of the municipal school buildings that could be available within a couple of years. “But I do think Al and his board have worked very hard on this. And I don’t have any problem with them upgrading the equipment and their operating expenses,” Brazis said. In addition to the three articles related to SCTV, the Special Town Meeting will consider a fourth measure proposed by Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree to appropriate money to replace air-conditioning units in the Public Safety Building and Town Hall. The Finance Committee will meet soon to review the four articles and offer recommendations for the upcoming Special Town Meeting.
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