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Page 14 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, SEpTEmbEr 23, 2022 Oct. 24 Special Town Meeting The warrant features an article creating a special school stabilization fund to help students affected by the pandemic By Mark E. Vogler A n article that would create a “Supplemental Student Support Reserve Fund” highlights the warrant being prepared for a Special Town Meeting set for next month. “I think this is a huge opportunity to be able to take advantage of money that is probably not going to be available in future years.” Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree told selectmen at Tuesday night’s (Sept. 20) meeting. “Money that the governor put into the budget that was passed by the House and Senate. And we’re really excited about being able to have that put to use through our School Department and really help kids that need this, for all the things we’ve gone through, through the pandemic…remote learning and whatnot.” The proposed article is one of several measures that will be considered when the 50-member Town Meeting convenes at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 24 in the second-floor auditorium at Saugus Town Hall. Petitions signed by 213 residents supporting a resolution to oppose expansion of the ash landfill at the WIN Waste Innovations trash-to-energy plant on Route 107 prompted the MILLION SAVINGS | FROM PAGE 9 maybe try and work together a little bit, and I would urge the board to show the leadership that this town needs and support this agreement.” Brown said that perhaps in time, “a genius at MIT” might figure out a future use for the ash. “Tear it down; build a new one.” Precinct 10 Town Meeting Member Peter Manoogian said he is “appalled” by the low standard selectmen are willing to accept for NOx emissions. “If the plant was torn down and built brand-new, it would be 45 parts per million,” Manoogian said. He added, “170 (ppm) – for them to agree to that is not a win for Saugus. The health study that they’re suggesting be enhanced only looks at cancer rates. NOx asthma, particularly in young children.” “Their Baltimore plant – their City Council in Baltimore sued the plant and passed a regcalling for a Special Town Meeting. Crabtree and other town officials decided to add other articles to the warrant. Crabtree said that Gov. Charlie Baker provided additional monies in Chapter 70 funds for public school, amounting to about $3 million for Saugus Public Schools. This money would allow for a variety of educational programs in the school district which are not currently covered by the School Department’s operating budget. “The idea is to look at student opportunities through the pandemic,” Crabtree said. “Our students in the state fell behind. This money is looked at to try to support those endeavors,” he said. “I surveyed and spoken to town meeting members.” The article initiated by the town manager reads as follows: “To see if the Saugus Town Meeting will vote under the authority provided by Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40 Section 5B, to create a targeted stabilization fund known as the Supplemental Student Support Reserve Fund and to raise and appropriate a sum of money for deposit into such fund for the following purpose(s): • To develop and provide ulation to have NOx emissions much lower – below 100 [ppm]. They ended up settling and they’re around 110 [ppm] now. There are plants that are 45 parts per million,” Manoogian said. “Let me cut to the chase. is a cause of What I would suggest you consider is what we did back in 1990 when everybody said we can’t get scrubbers on the plant because it’s grandfathered. Well, what had to happen is legislation had to take place that required every community to pay its fair share,” he said. “I have no problem with an incinerator that meets the lowest attainable rate, such as 45 parts per million. But 170 is wholly inadequate to protect the public health and environment. I wouldn’t celebrate this 170 as an environmental victory. It’s not. 50 [ppm] is the standard and new incinerators are at 45 [ppm].” Manoogian suggested that Saugus consider having the current incinerator replaced. enrichment programs outside of the school day, including summer school, evening school, and before and after school programs not currently existing in the school budget. • To deliver at home tutoring for students who have been identified as needing one on one support from a qualified educator. • To procure and administer norm referenced student assessments to identify individual student deficiencies in mathematics and reading. • To develop and implement parent/guardian communication and training programs that will help facilitate student learning and success. • To supplement existing ESL / ELL learners including, but not limited to, materials and properly credentialed staff to support these learners. • To ensure access to technology for students who have been identified as not having such at home. • To develop and implement extended day programs for students as needed. • To develop any program deemed appropriate and proven effective with the goal of bringing about student academic and social recovery from two years of remote learning. “In order for the Saugus Public Schools to access these funds the Superintendent and School Committee must submit a detailed plan to the Saugus Finance Committee who will determine that such plans are supplementing current educational programming and not supplanting it.” A resolution initiated by four of the five Precinct 10 Town Meeting members would be the latest in a series of various votes by Town Meeting and previous Boards of Selectmen opposing expansion of the ash landfill. “It is Therefore Resolved that the Representatives in Town Meeting, here assembled, convey our opposition to any further extension of the WIN ash landfill located on Route 107 and urge our state delegation to oppose any effort to modify the law or regulations relative to the Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC),” states the resolution. “This resolution will be sent to the entire delegation for Saugus as well as the DEP Commissioner.” The Saugus Retirement Board submitted these three articles for the Special Town Meeting: • Acceptance of Legislation/Increase of Survivor Benefits – To see if the Town of Saugus will vote to accept the provisions of Section 29 and 30 of Chapter 176 of the Acts of 2011 to accept an increase to the minimum monthly allowance for a member survivor allowance from $250 to $500. • Acceptance of Legislation/Increase of Survivors Benefits – To see if the Town of Saugus will vote to accept the provisions of Section 28 of Chapter 131 of the Acts of 2010 to increase the benefit paid to survivors from $6,000 to $12,000 annually. • Acceptance of Legislation/Increase of COLA Base –To see if the Town will vote to accept the provisions of Section 19 of Chapter 188 of the Acts of 2010 to increase the maximum base on which the cost-of-living is calculated for retirees of the Saugus Retirement System from $14,000 to $18,000. At Tuesday’s meeting, Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony Cogliano submitted an article on behalf of Sal Palumbo of 3 Pirates Glen Rd. to rezone property at 34 Rear Forest St. from residential to the Business Highway Sustainable Development District. come seaworthy,” he said. WIN Waste should consider an exit plan and closure instead of expansion of the ash landfill, he said. Jackie Mercurio, the lone member of the Landfill Subcommittee to vote against the HCA, said she would like to see “a more concrete community agreement” before selectmen Selectman Jeffrey Cicolini considered himself “the swing vote” to decide whether selectmen approve or reject the Host Community Agreement (HCA). “Have a Host Community Agreement that says, ‘Okay, we want the best for Saugus.’ Tear it down; build a new one and pass the costs on to the member communities. Saugus cannot keep subsidizing the trash disposal costs with our health,” he said. Precinct 10 Town Meeting Member Martin Costello said the town should take heed of WIN Waste Innovations’ Vice President of Environment, Jim Connolly, answered questions from selectmen on the company’s Host Community Agreement (HCA). climate change and weather conditions that threaten the future of the ash landfill. “Close this facility as soon as possible,” Costello said of the ash landfill, reading from a letter he wrote to MassDEP back in 2018. “We’re at sea level here in Boston. It wouldn’t take much – the climate change that we’re dealing with right now – for this ash pile to suddenly bevote on it. “The site suitability is at risk for future ash,” Mercurio testified. “I’ve asked WIN how they would propose to make the site suitable. They have no answer, “she said. “Currently, the ash landfill sits on an environmentally critical area. It cannot expand in height nor expand wider, based off of Massachusetts law. We have no answers about what the plan would look like. How can officials support all the unknowns?” Mercurio questioned why there was no proposal being considered to bring the incinerator to current standards.

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