Monday, May 13, 2013
Here we chat with the Board of Selectmen's new chairman, Jill Sullivan, posing three questions that look forward to her leading role on the panel.
Chat with Board of Selectmen Chairman Jill Sullivan: What will your priorities be? My first priority as Chairman this year is to continue to improve the functioning and effectiveness of the Board of Selectmen. To accomplish this goal, our first meeting, on May 22, will be devoted almost entirely to organization and goal setting. We will be reviewing a draft set of Policies and Procedures for the Board of Selectmen that will help us define the roles and responsibilities of the board as a whole, as well as for individual members. This document will be a resource that will help new members of future boards understand the way the Board operates on day one of their service as a Selectman. I hope we will consider more effective ways of …
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
The town's latest go-round with the utility arose over the painting of crosswalks in town.
The town administrator told selectmen the town would not consider National Grid's requests for utility work permits in the future if the company fails to respond to town concerns such as a safety item that recently arose. That item was the painting of crosswalks on Humphrey Street in the wake of underground utility work last year. A local contractor has agreed to step in and pay for the work, but National Grid said on Monday that it plans to do the work at night this week. At last Wednesday's selectmen's meeting, Selectman Glenn Kessler asked if everyone was on board that National Grid would receive no work permits until they painted Humphrey Street crosswalks. The crosswalks in question are at the Lynn line and beyond the Monument …
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Selectmen have a lengthy agenda at Town Hall on April 3, starting with a nonpublic session at 7 p.m.
A Walnut Road resident will talk to selectmen about flooding when the board meets Wednesday. Joseph Ford is scheduled to present information about Walnut Road drainage causing damage to his property, according to the agenda. The Fords' lawyer, Richard Lynds, requested the public meeting. Walnut runs between Forest Avenue and Sargent Road. Also Wednesday selectmen are slated to take up approval of a citizens petition that would form a town regionalization committee. Former Finance Committee Chairman Michael McClung tops the list of 14 names who signed the petition. The committee would "research and evaluate regionalization opportunities, including shared services, shared departments, disincorporation, or annexation by neighboring …
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Swampscott Town Hall
22 Monument Ave, Swampscott, MA
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Friday, March 22, 2013
The depot's sale would need Town Meeting approval.
1) Town and School Watch: Gina Cobbett, a teacher from the Swampscott School District, has been chosen to train as a lead mentor to new teachers, joining a select group of more than 150 of the state's top teachers in the Project SUCCESS program. The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's Center for University, School, and Community Partnerships (CUSP) is training some of the state's top teachers to mentor their colleagues in "high-need" areas like special education, English as a Second Language, science and math. 2) Newsbit of the Day: The town is working with the MBTA on a purchase and sales agreement for the depot building and four parking spaces in front of it at the Swampscott Train Station, Town Administrator Tom Younger reported on …
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Swampscott Train Station
25 Railroad Ave, Swampscott, MA
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Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Selectmen are expected to talk to school officials about the length of time that the co-generator went without being repaired.
Selectmen are scheduled to talk about an energy saving co-generator at Swampscott High when the board meets tonight. The meeting is at 7 at Town Hall, with the co-generator talks scheduled for 7:50. Wayne Spritz of the town Renewable Energy Committee told selectmen on March 6, that he had spoken to the School Committee about the length of time the high school's energy-saving generator had been off line. He said he had told school officials that the Renewable Energy panel was concerned that the machine had been broken since late last year and had not been repaired. Swampscott, as part of its Green Community status and requirements, must, by 2014, reduce by 20 percent the amount of energy the town used in 2009. And schools account for a …
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
The discussion and vote will take place in the Swampscott High School auditorium at 7
The last time selectmen gathered to talk about Selectman Barry Greenfield's home rule petition proposal Town Hall's first-floor over-flowed with people. So, tonight, when the board holds talks and votes on whether to place the petition question on the Town Meeting warrant the venue will be much bigger — the high school auditorium. Greenfield's question would ask the town to give selectmen authority to file a petition with the Legislature — asking lawmakers to pass legislation related to pensions and health insurance for new employees. The law would allow towns to offer alternative retirement and health insurance benefits for new employees in collective bargaining with unions. As it stands, pensions and health benefits are mandated by the …
To accommodate the many people expected for Wednesday's meeting of the selectmen and the Home Rule petition talks the meeting venue has been changed to the high school.
1) Town and School Meeting Watch: School Committee at 7:00 PM at Swampscott High School Board of Selectmen's meeting at 7:00 PM at the Swampscott High School Zoning Board of Appeals at 7:00 PM at Swampscott Senior Center Historic District Study Committee at 7:00 PM at Town Hall Renewable Energy Committee at 7:00 PM at Swampscott High School (School Committee meeting) Contibutory Retirement Board at 7:30 PM at Swampscott High School (Swampscott High School) 2) Newsbit of the Day: To accommodate the many people expected for Wednesday's meeting of the selectmen and the Home Rule petition talks the meeting venue has been changed to the high school. 3) Swampscott Scholars: Mark Simms was among the students from the University of …
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
The proposed article would ask town meeting members to petition legislators to pass a law allowing towns to bargain collectively for alternative retirement and health benefits for new employees.
Selectman Barry Greenfield will ask fellow board members tonight to place a home rule petition question on the Town Meeting warrant in May. Selectmen meet at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. Greenfield said the question would ask the town to give selectmen authority to file a petition with the Legislature — asking lawmakers to pass legislation related to pensions and health insurance for new employees. The law would allow towns to offer alternative retirement and health insurance benefits for new employees in collective bargaining with unions. As it stands, retirement and health benefits are mandated by the state, the selectman said. He and others in the state want to change that, so towns have options to offer pensions that they can afford, he said…
42.47002
-70.917193
Swampscott Town Hall
22 Monument Ave, Swampscott, MA
/articles/home-rule-petition-on-selectmen-s-agenda
771753
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Friday, January 25, 2013
On Wednesday the board voted to increase the frequency of recycling to every week starting now.
Selectmen voted unanimously on Wednesday to use savings from the town's waste reduction program to fund weekly recycling. Martha Dansdill of the Board of Health told selectmen the time was right for the change. The town's waste reduction program — a two-barrel limit on trash — has reduced the amount of trash hauled by 20 percent or 1,000 tons, she said. The estimated $30,000 in savings will fund the move from biweekly to weekly pick-up of recycled materials in the current fiscal year, 2013, ending June 30, 2013. The selectmen voted to start the weekly recycling now. The town contracts with Hiltz Disposal for curbside trash pickup and recycling. Meanwhile, local recycling increased by 80 tons; and the recycling rate increased from 17 to …
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The Board meets tonight at 7 at Town Hall.
Board of Health members will talk to selectmen about weekly recycling when they meet tonight. The meeting is at 7 at Town Hall. The other discussion item on the agenda: Board votes are scheduled on the following: As far as the recycling topic goes, health board members will give an update on how things are going with their plans, said Rich Malagrifa, chairman of the Board of Selectmen.. The weekly recycling topic has come before selectmen several times in the past two years. Last summer Town Administrator Thomas Younger said he wanted to review town finances over the next three months to see if it could afford the weekly service. Right now the town has recycling every two weeks. Some residents have lobbied for making it weekly since the …
42.47002
-70.917193
Swampscott Town Hall
22 Monument Ave, Swampscott, MA
/articles/weekly-recycling-on-selectmen-s-agenda
771753
/locations/8652625
David Arsenault
7:38 am on Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Ha, ha, yea but you know what he's not afraid to put his "real name" out there. He's not hiding behind a alias like some wussies. more ›