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THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2021 Page 13 YEAR IN REVIEW | FROM PAGE 12 as his “Number One Issue” after winning a second two-year term as the board’s chair. School Committee Chair Thomas Whittredge is the top vote-getter in his race, winning a second term as the chair. Veteran Selectman Debra Panetta finishes second in the election to claim the vice-chair assignment. Former School Committee Member Vincent Serino is runner-up in his race to earn the vice-chair designation. Veteran School Committee Member Arthur Grabowski is the lone candidate among 11 incumbents running town-wide to lose election. Police investigate a Halloween night vandalism incident at World Series Park; vandalism and a breakin happen on the same day that a successful fundraiser for multiple sclerosis was held at the park. The Town dedicates a new sports complex at the Saugus Middle-High School – “Christie Serino, Jr. Memorial Stadium” – in memory of the legendary coach and teacher. Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree gets “great” grades for the town’s financial situation in a public evaluation by the selectmen. A Saugus man gets three years in prison after pleading guilty to drug and firearms offenses. Board of Selectmen candidates spend more than $15,000 going into the final days of the election; Selectman Debra Panetta raises $6,125 and spends $5,635.86 – the most campaign money among the 20 candidates who ran town-wide for public office. The School Committee begins a new term with one new member, Vincent Serino, who becomes the new vice-chair. Saugus honors its heroes on Veterans Day. State DEP Commissioner Martin Suuberg says WIN Waste Innovations won’t be able to expand the ash landfill near its trash-to-energy incinerator under current regulations. Members of the Board of Health’s Wheelabrator subcommittee want WIN Waste Innovations to present them with a written proposal of what they are willing to include in a potential host agreement between the town and operators of the trash incinerator. Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree calls for a Special Town Meeting for next month to “clean up” the budget for the 2022 Fiscal Year that began July 1; the most important of the four articles is a measure that would restore $1.4 million in the town’s Stabilization Fund. The meeting will be held via Zoom teleconferencing instead of at the auditorium at the request of Town Moderator Steve Doherty, who wants to make sure the 50-memMBTA | FROM PAGE 7 ize service benefits for bus riders during COVID-19, the project’s construction was accelerated through the MBTA’s Rapid Response Bus Lane program, which also included more than 10 miles of bus lanes in communities hard hit by the pandemic throughout the metropolitan area. “Boston and the MBTA are increasingly seen as national leaders when it comes to putting transit first on city streets,” said TransitCenter Executive Director David Bragdon. “From the Columbus Ave. center-running corridor to the dozens of bus lane projects that have launched in the last couple of years, we applaud MBTA’s and Metro Boston’s municipalities’ commitment to equitable mobility in the wake of the ber body is protected from COVID-19. A video captures Halloween vandalism at World Series Park. Saugus police capture a bank robbery suspect who drew attention to himself by trying to hitch a ride. Northeast Metro Tech School District officials will consider an election option for the proposed new school. The Town reports 85 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases. Three Saugus firefighters who assisted three police officers who were stabbed in an August 2020 attack are among those honored at the “Firefighter of the Year Awards” ceremony: Capt. Chris Vinard and firefighters Sean Bohannon and Greg Cinelli receive the Governors Group Citation for Meritorious Conduct for their quick response in the face of danger, while Cinelli received the Medal of Valor for risking his own life to subdue and disarm the suspect – saving the lives of the wounded police officers. The School Committee honors Jacob Puglisi, 8, a student at the Belmonte STEAM Academy, for his quick response to help a classmate who was choking on a nacho at lunch. The Saugus United Parish Food Pantry distributes packaged Thanksgiving dinner baskets to more than 80 families in the community. Selectman Corinne Riley discloses appearance of conflict of interest on Wong family permit, but says she has clearance from state Ethics Commission to vote on plans for a mixed-use project featuring 130 apartment units. The Town reports 93 new COVID cases in a week. December The Finance Committee recommends passage of an article to restore $1.4 million in Saugus’s Stabilization Fund – a measure intended to protect the town’s AA+ bond rating; that is one of four financial articles receiving the committee’s support for the upcoming Special Town Meeting. The Town plans to dedicate this year’s tree lighting to the memory of the town’s late Saugus Youth & Recreation Director Greg Nickolas, who died in September from complications related to COVID-19. Theresa Whittredge, 47, wife of School Committee Chair Thomas Whittredge, dies of metastatic breast cancer. Saugus veterans group leader David Nelson passes at 71. The Town reports 121 new COVID-19 cases in eight days. The owner of an average single-family home will pay an average of $345 more as the result of new tax rates set by the Board of Selectmen. A year after COVID-19 canceled the town’s Christmas Tree and Festivities, hundreds COVID-19 pandemic.” Other bus lane projects that the MBTA completed, in partnership with local municipalities, in 2021 include parts of Broadway in Revere, North Washington Street in Boston and North Common Street in Lynn. Other projects that will be completed imminently or in early 2022 include segments along Western Avenue in Lynn, Washington Street in Somerville, Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Washington Street in Brookline and Centre Street in Malden. “We are proud to have partnered with the MBTA on Columbus Ave., North Washington Street, and Washington Street in Roslindale throughout 2021,” said Boston Transportation Department (BTD) Interim Commissioner Brad Gerratt. “We look forward to working closely with the MBTA, our regional transit provider, to deliver more improvements on local city streets. This recognition is a testimony to the collaboration we have built together.” “We are thrilled to see the MBTA and its municipal partners acknowledged for this work given how far we’ve come in a few short years,” said LivableStreets Executive Director Stacy Thompson. (LivableStreets is a transportation advocacy organization based in Boston.) “Back in 2018, there were just over two miles of bus lanes in Boston, and now, there are more than 17 miles stretching from Roslindale Square to North Common Street in Lynn. Prioritizing buses is one of the best ways for us to close the equity gap in our transit system as the regather on the lawn outside Town Hall as Saugus welcomes the annual tradition back. Kevin Andrews plays Santa Claus with Sachem Friends to help make Christmas bright for children in the MEG Toy Drive. A Saugus woman pleads guilty to bank fraud conspiracy; Emelyn Clough, 24, opened a bank account in the name of a fictitious business in a scheme that obtained more than $300,000 from customer accounts. Four financial articles – including one to restore $1.4 million in the Stabilization Fund used to balance the budget – pass unanimously during a Special Town Meeting. The MEG Foundation celebrates its 11th Annual Christmas Tree Festival. Essex County Correctional Officer Anthony Pasquarello dies of complications from COVID-19; parents of the Saugus man ask the sheriff to make it public that he wasn’t vaccinated – to protect others. The body of Michael Norton, 26, is discovered by his family inside his Essex Landing apartment, sparking a murder investigation. Retired postal worker Karen Coburn and her husband John continue their tradition of answering letters to Santa Claus that have been dropped off at the Saugus Post Office in Cliftondale. The Town reports 182 new COVID-19 cases over one week. About 200 voters in Precincts 3 and 10 could get a new legislative district under a redistricting modification plan. A draft copy of Cliftondale Revitalization Committee’s Final Report concludes it’s possible to spark new life into the town’s dying business and housing district, providing the town, property owners, businesses and other stakeholders make a collaborative commitment. Another suspicious death in Saugus: Police arrest a Lynn man in connection with the death of his Woburn girlfriend, whose body was found in a Saugus marsh along Route 107. About 360 wreaths are placed on veterans’ graves in Riverside Cemetery as members of the Parson Roby Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) sponsor the National Wreaths Across America Day in a town event that draws hundreds. The five Saugus Town Meeting members call on MassDEP to require “open and transparent” closure of the ash landfill at WIN Waste Innovations’ trash-to-energy plant site. The Town reports 203 new COVID-19 cases over one week. By year’s end, Saugus passes the 6,000 mark for total confirmed COVID-19 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic in March of 2020; 87 Saugus residents have died of complications linked to the Coronavirus. gion recovers, and we look forward to working with the MBTA, Boston, and communities across the region to continue to support bus riders in 2022 and beyond.” MBTA and City of Boston officials hope to keep the momentum going in the years to come. Earlier this year, the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization awarded the MBTA $14 million to construct a northern extension of the Columbus Avenue facility, and last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the City of Boston $15 million to design and construct similar improvements on Blue Hill Avenue. The MBTA Transit Priority Group was created in 2019 with support from the Barr Foundation to further bus priority projects around the region. The group has worked closely with municipal partners and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to deliver more than 17 miles of bus lanes and activate transit signal priority at 85 locations in six cities, more than doubling the MBTA service area’s bus priority network in the last two years. The group’s actions have had a far-reaching impact: While approximately eight percent of passenger miles traveled are in bus lanes, reliability benefits extend to 42 percent of passenger miles traveled system-wide. In announcing the award, TransitCenter concluded, “To speed bus trips, transit agencies and city governments have to work together. We commend these agencies in the Boston region for modeling effective partnerships.”

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