Page 2 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, NOVEmbEr 11, 2022 MARIJUANA | FROM PAGE 1 that the vote under Article 36 as amended was within the scope of the warrant article. Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Debra Panetta said the town has received “dozens of inquiries regarding marijuana dispensaries.” “The Selectmen, along with the Town Manager, will need to set criteria in order to vet each applicant that comes before us,” Panetta said. Selectman Corinne Riley said she is pleased that the Attorney General approved the article regulating marijuana establishments in Saugus as it has already done in surrounding communities. “There are protections in place so that establishments will not be in residential districts, or near schools, parks, or playgrounds. This is a new and recurring source of significant revenue for the town, and adds no burden to town resources like schools, water, sewer, police, fire, etc.,” Riley said. “I understand that not everyone wants marijuana in Saugus, but the fact is that it is already here, and readily available, literally on our doorsteps, with shops on the Melrose town line on Route 99, and the Lynn town line on Boston Street. Anyone that wants access to marijuana in and around Saugus already has it, so a ‘NO’ vote on this issue wasn’t going to keep marijuana out of Saugus,” Riley said. “It’s easy to complain about increasing property taxes and lack of operational funding for schools, DPW, and staffing for a third fire station, but it takes creativity and leadership to bring in new recurring revenue sources without hitting the taxpayer,” Riley said. “I am glad to have supported this issue, and that Town Meeting supported it by a two-thirds vote, and that the Attorney General approved it as well. I look forward to Saugus finally realizing its fair share of marijuana tax dollars.” At this year’s Annual Town Meeting, members voted 3113 (with five members absent) for Article 36 – an amendment to the town’s Zoning Bylaws ~ Letter-To-The-Editor~ It was disappointing for Special Town Meeting to stop the debate and end the chance for public input on WIN article $5.39 GALLON We accept: MasterCard * Visa * & Discover Price Subject to Change without notice 100 Gal. Min. 24 Hr. Service 781-286-2602 Dear editor of The Saugus Advocate, As a resident of Lynn, Massachusetts, I live in close proximity to the Win Waste incinerator and unlined ash dump. On October 24th, I attended the Saugus Town Meeting with the intention of voicing my opposition to the proposed ash landfill expansion which would violate state law since it is located in an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC). Firstly, I want to thank the leaders of Saugus who organized the meeting. Sometimes it isn’t easy to do what is right, especially when money is involved, so thank you for courageously standing up for the health and wellbeing of our communities. Unfortunately, before public comment, town meeting members voted to indefinitely postpone the proposed article, effectively ending debate and the chance for public input. This was an incredibly disappointing display of cowardice and blatant corruption. Several of the town meeting members take money from WIN and their vote to stop debate was a conflict of interest. I encourage politicians statewide to stop taking money from this company. If they do, they should abstain from voting on any issue related to WIN. Regards, Eliot Smith Lynn Did You Vote For This? Dear Editor, The July 25, 2022 ScarpTec Engineering Report (Appendix J – Rock Engineering Design and Recommendations for the Northeast Metro Regional Vocational Technical High School Project) tells us that students, faculty and visitors will be looking at and contending with a 365’ long, 35’ high sloped rock cliff along the back of the new proposed school. At the base will be a 12-footwide ditch in front of the cliff that is supposed to catch all the falling rocks and ice, and protect the roadway. Site Access Restrictions & Safety Protocols recommend Security Fences and Signage so people are warned about fall hazards and excluded from the slope and crest areas. To accomplish this, it will be part of the long-term blasting plan and is only part of the $40 million dollars that the Northeast Building Committee approved to destroy the forest and make way for the new school. When asked regarding the blasting, Michael Mallet from the Gilbane Building Company informed us that the blasting will take about six months to clear the area. I later asked Mr. Mallet, just as he was preparing to leave, what about the destruction of the forest and his response was, “I do not get involved with the politics of a project, I am hired to build a building and told where to build it.” In the report, Scarptec Engineering states, “that they do not rule out the possibility that falling rocks could continue even after construction.” Vehicles should not be parked up against the slope or directly adjacent to the proposed catchment ditch. This is directly where the roadway will be located for student bus travel and used as an exit from the school. All of this destruction could be avoided and millions of dollars could be saved if the new Vocational school were built on one of the other two buildings sites available – C-2 where the existing football and baseball fields are located now. Both are in desperate need of a facelift due to lack of regular maintenance. This is not what the taxpayers of Wakefield and the other communities in the district expected, when they voted in January for funding a new Northeast Metro Tech School. It is time to tell them again to change the school location and Save the Forest, that was the original plan when the property was transferred to the MDC in 1934 and was intended to be preserved for future generations. In 1965 when this section of Breakheart Reservation property was sold to the Northeast Vocational School, times were different and part of the land parcel was developed to make way for the new school. Times have changed, and the need to Save rather than destroy a forest are greater now than they have ever been in the history of this town, this country, and the world. Signed, Bob Brooks Abutter PS: As an added note in case the Northeast Building Committee forgot to mention: a recent measurement of the trees in a one acre area that are 5” or greater in diameter including Pine, Hickory and Mature Oaks was 170 trees. With at least 12 acres being destroyed the total comes out to well over 2,000 trees that will gone forever. to allow for marijuana establishments in town. The Annual Town Meeting voted unanimously in 2018 for an article that banned the operation of any marijuana retail establishments in town. But much has changed over the last four years – particularly a decline in town revenue in the midst of two-plus years of coping with the COVID-19 pandemic – which contributed to Town Meeting’s overwhelming approval of an article that allows for the recreational sale of marijuana.
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