Town Meeting Part I: Home Rule Petition Defeated and Blower Restrictions Supported

On their first night of Town Meeting, members dispensed with several controversial items including Article 5, a home rule petition.

The meeting continues tonight at the high school in the auditorium.

On Monday, the home rule article proposed authorizing selectmen to request legislation giving Swampscott the option to offer alternative retirement and health insurance benefits for new town employees in collective bargaining with unions. 

Home rule supporter Selectman Barry Greenfield charted the steady growth of the town's unfunded liability on pensions, climbing from $14 million in 2000 to $27 million in 2006 to $36 million in 2011.

He said the current system is unaffordable and unsustainable. And he and resident Jack Beermann said approval of the article would send a message to the Legislature that it needs to take action on behalf of all towns in the Commonwealth.

Thomas Stephens of the police union countered that the reason the unfunded liaibility has grown is because the town failed to pay into the fund in the early years, otherwise that curve that the selectman plotted would be a level line.

Stephens and others said that for Swampscott to be sending messages without a plan to offer in the stead of the one mandated by the state was a risky business.

In effect, freelancing on negotiations would isolate Swampscott, limiting its ability to attract quality employees and putting at risk the benefits of pending retirement reform.

In the end, the vote was not close. Article 5 was defeated.

Article 7, on the other hand, the proposal to prohibit the use of gas-powered leaf blowers by residents from May 16 to Sept. 14, was a very close decision. It was determined by a count of people standing for and against the proposal.

The article was approved by a vote of 124-121.

The vote was so close that the town clerk received two requests for reconsideration after the meeting adjourned. 

Those requests are expected to be taken up tonight.

A few members asked questions about the leaf blower proposal's application but most of the talk came from supporters who cited health risks and noise tied to blowers.

Sarah Pruitt said the proposal was a compromise since it allowed landscapers to use their blowers during spring and fall clean-ups but not during the summer when there were no leaves to blow.

She said children were especially vulnerable to the small particulate matter stirred up by the blowers, as were pregnant and elderly people.

Board of Health Chairman Martha Dansdill said the panel voted unanimously to recommend the restrictions. 

The special warrant article proposing the purchase of Phillips Beach, for $140,000, was postponed with no action at this year's Town meeting.

Finance Committee Chairman Don Pinkerton said the sellers recently came up with additional demands, and the committee recommended not going forward with the proposed purchase of the 3.7 acres. 

Town Administrator Thomas Younger said after the meeting that negotiations will continue with the parties involved on purchasing the beach or other options but he was not at liberty to talk about them.

He did say that any proposal to buy the beach would need Town Meeting approval in the future, and that use of Phillips Beach will "absolutely" not be restricted this summer.

In action on other articles, the meeting approved Article 6, Michael McClung's request, that a committee be established to research and evaluate regionalization opportunities.

The meeting also approved a trio of articles related to the purchase of the historic train depot.