MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA — Considering 21 articles on the warrant was no easy task but annual Town Meeting wrapped it up in about three hours.
Town Moderator Alan Wilson banged the gavel to convene the meeting Wednesday at Manchester Memorial Elementary School precisely at 6:30 p.m. and adjourned it at 9:12 p.m. Midway through, Wilson reported a quorum of 317 voters present.
The meeting approved financing for a new senior center, the operation of a launch service in Manchester Harbor, and a number of capital projects, including $7,550,000 to make capital improvements to the town’s water and wastewater systems.
It also approved a fiscal year 2025 budget amounting to $42,336,058, with $16,818,112 for the town operating and enterprise budgets for water and sewer, and debts; $19,060,435 for town’s share of Manchester Essex Regional School District’s operating budget and debt service; $243,385 for the North Shore Agricultural & Technical School; and $2,642,740 for capital items.
Each of the above articles passed by substantial margins with voters using electronic vote tallying devices.
Finance Committee Chairperson Sarah Mellish said the budgets received much careful consideration.
“The Finance Committee feels this budget is prudent and addresses the needs of the town,” she said. “This is a lean budget that meets the town’s needs.”
Article 6 authorizing the Select Board to raise or borrow $1 million to buy the Masons’ 26,045 square foot parcel at 10 Church St. needed a two-thirds majority and was approved by a sizable margin, prompting a rousing cheer. Many applauding were senior citizens.
Select Board member Brian Sollosy moved the measure, which was seconded by Select Board member John Round.
Responding to a question about whether the building is the right place for a town-operated facility, being at the edge of Manchester Harbor, Town Administrator Gregory Federspiel said the elevation of the Masons’ building protects it from storm surge.
“This building is in pretty good shape,” Federspiel said. An appraisal a few years ago estimated the building’s value to be about $800,000.
“We do feel the price is appropriate,” he said.
The town will start running a launch service in Manchester Harbor after Town Meeting voted 309-34 to purchase to two launch boats and fund operating expenses for this fiscal year and next.
Select Board member Catherine Bilotta said town officials, including Harbormaster Bion Pike, put together a prudent business plan for the launch service.
“All of these costs are going to be reimbursed by user fees,” she said. “The entire endeavor is to be funded entirely by user fees.”
Mellish said the effort should eventually be self-sustaining.
“If you want to use a launch, contact the harbormaster and he’ll gladly take your money,” she said.
The meeting also approved paying the town’s share of the Manchester Essex Regional School District’s $16,339,528 gross operating and maintenance budget for fiscal 2025, $2,720,907 to cover its long-term debt, and $660,000 for a feasibility study for Essex Elementary School.
Superintendent Pamela Beaudoin said the Manchester Essex Regional School Committee will eventually narrow its focus to considering possible renovation or new construction for the school, 12 Story St. in Essex.
“We really lean heavily on community experts,” she said.
Spending $481,670 of Community Preservation Fund money on restoration of the First Parish Church steeple and resurfacing of the Sweeney Park basketball court, among other things, was approved, but not before a motion was made to eliminate $200,000 to fund the Manchester Affordable Housing Trust. The motion was defeated 178-45.
Here is a condensed version of the articles on the meeting’s warrant and votes:
1 – Receive reports of the town’s boards and committees. APPROVED.
2 – Fix the salaries of the town moderator and members of the Select Board at $0 per year. APPROVED.
3 – Raise $243,385 as the town’s share of the budget for the Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School District. APPROVED.
4 – Raise sums by taxation to pay town debts and charges — $42,336,058 — for the coming fiscal year, effective July 1. APPROVED.
5 – Spend the following, all of which were APPROVED:
— Road resurfacing — $550,000.
— DPW facility siting, geotechnical analysis — $250,000.
— Drainage and sidewalk improvements — $250,000.
— Storm damage repair — $50,000. Not recommended.
— General building upgrades — $50,000.
— Backhoe replacement — $150,000.
— IT and telephone upgrades at Town Hall — $30,000.
— Planning and zoning studies — $20,000. Not recommended, in operating budget.
— Library walkway repairs — $6,500.
— Library building assessment — $43,500.
— Fire engine replacement fund — $250,000. Not recommended.
— Ambulance 2 replacement — $470,000.
— Police tasers — $12,600.
— Police administration vehicle replacement — $73,000.
— Cardiac monitors and defibrillators — $54,000.
— Fire Station repairs and upgrades — $30,000. Not recommended, in operating budget.
— Dredging/engineering/permitting — $100,000.
— No wake buoys — $9,500.
— Plant upgrades/PFAS design — $2 million. $150,000 recommended.
— Pipe replacement/improvements — $2 million. Not recommended.
— Meter replacements (for “smart” meters) — $1.5 million. Not recommended.
— Water truck replacement — $50,000.
— Plant upgrades/Equipment replacement – $4.1 million. $550,000 recommended.
6 – Raise or borrow $1 million and authorize the Select Board to use it to acquire, for a senior center and, or community center, all or a portion of the Masons’ 26,045 square foot parcel at 10 Church St. APPROVED.
7 – Raise or transfer money to operate a town-sponsored launch service in Manchester Harbor including $9,500 for fiscal 2024 operating expenses, $125,000 for the purchase of two launch boats, and $41,000 for fiscal 2025 launch operating expenses. APPROVED.
8 – Spend $7,550,000 — $4,100,000 on the town’s water system and $3,450,000 on the town’s wastewater system — for capital improvements. APPROVED, 290-33.
9 – Spend Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program grant funds and re-appropriate $150,000 of the $200,000 previously appropriated for restroom renovations at Manchester-by-the-Sea Public Library. APPROVED, 200-19.
10 – Create a Special Opioid Settlement Stabilization Fund and dedicate 100% of the opioid litigation settlement funds to the fund. APPROVED.
11 – Raise or transfer money for the town’s assessment for the gross operating and maintenance budget of the Manchester Essex Regional School District. APPROVED.
12 – Raise or transfer $660,000 for the town’s apportioned share of the Essex Elementary School feasibility study. APPROVED, 244-44 .
13 – Raise or transfer $248,348 to fund the town’s share of the cost to refurbish the turf fields in town. APPROVED.
14 – Hear and act on the report of the Community Preservation Committee on the fiscal 2025 Community Preservation budget and to appropriate $481,670 from the Community Preservation Fund money to meet the administrative and other expenses of the committee for fiscal 2025. APPROVED.
Included in the $481,670 total amount is:
– $200,000 for the Manchester Affordable Housing Trust Project funding.
– $60,000 for restoration of the First Parish Church steeple.
– $28,500 to resurface the Sweeney Park basketball court.
– $25,000 for restoration of town cemeteries.
– $24,400 for portico restoration at Hooper Trask House.
– $20,000 for Power House Hill parking and access easement.
15 – Authorize the Select Board to acquire an access and parking easement on property owned by the Manchester Housing Authority at Newport Park for access to Powder House Hill conservation lands. APPROVED.
16 – Raise or transfer $100,000 to supplement the fiscal 2024 Legal Expenses Account. APPROVED.
17 – Raise or transfer $300,000 to be deposited into the town’s “Other Post Employment Benefits Trust Fund.” APPROVED.
18 – Set fiscal 2025 imitations on expenditures by the town’s recreation programs at $400,000; and the town’s Board of Health Emergency Dispensing Sites and Clinics Programs at $50,000. APPROVED.
19 – Amend the Tobacco Products Regulations and Tobacco Use Regulations of the town’s General Bylaws as fines and enforcement are covered by other bylaws and state statutes/regulations. APPROVED.
20 – Amend Article X, Section 23 of the General Bylaw on non-accessory signs by adding the language: “The provisions of this section shall not apply to non-accessory signs located on town-owned property, subject to the approval by the Select Board, nor to non-accessory signs on town-owned property used for educational purposes, subject to approval by the Manchester Essex Regional School Committee.” APPROVED.
21 – Raise or transfer money to reduce the tax rate. NO ACTION TAKEN.
Stephen Hagan can be reached at 978-675-2708 or at shagan@northofboston.com.