Hello Salem! There were a couple of hot topics at last night’s meeting, so I will just jump right into it. The two Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds on the agenda were $15K for the Mack Park Food Farm and $175K for the Forest River Nature Center. Councilor Dibble asked to divide the issue and take them up individually. The council approved the Mack Park funds unanimously, but discussion ensued around the Forest River funds. Dibble expressed his concern that the budget for Forest River had spiraled “out of control.” Councilor Dominguez moved that the matter be referred to the Administration & Finance (A&F) committee. Councilor Turiel explained that this was not free cash; this was CPA funding. The CPA commission had reviewed the funding request and recommended approval to the council. The council could now approve or reject their recommendation. Dibble echoed Dominguez about sending the matter to A&F to discuss why the pool budget was “out of control.” Councilor McCarthy reasserted what Turiel had said: the matter before them was not the Forest River budget, it was a CPA allocation. Dibble, Dominguez and Sargent voted to send it to A&F; the matter did not carry. Only Dibble was opposed to the allocation.
The council voted to transfer $44,219 from the Witch House to Voices Against Injustice. The Witch House apportions $0.25 per ticket to support this organization and has been doing so for years. Dibble had questions about oversight and the amount; he suggested that there be a cap on the donation. The matter carried.
The Council voted in favor of affirming Salem’s commitment to accessibility and inclusion of people of all abilities with actions that include implementing the ADA transition plan, updating an ADA tracker, and conducting training for city staff, among other things (funding and monitoring).
Dibble moved to hold a meeting in the Public Health, Safety & the Environment (PHSE) committee with the police to discuss the recent violence in Salem. He questioned whether the police needed more resources. Acting Chief Dennis King had technical difficulties and could not contribute his thoughts on the matter. Councilor Prosniewski raised a question to the appropriateness of the request. He noted that the Department of Public Works is not required to explain broken pipes. Nonetheless, he acknowledged that King would accept the invitation from PHSE and apologized for the technical difficulty. The matter passed.
A motion from Dominguez to send a matter pertaining to wetlands protection and development to the committee on Ordinances, Licenses & Legal Affairs (OLLA) passed, as well, but not without some discussion. Councilor Morsillo noted that she was happy to receive the matter in committee (she is chair), but that she was disappointed that Dominguez did not reach out to her about this before bringing it to the council. She has been working with the planning board, the planning department and the conservation commission on exactly this topic. Morsillo objected to the redundancy in the bulleted priorities put forward, and noted that the sweeping language was simplistic and did not take homeowners into consideration. The bullets asked that an ordinance establish a no build 100 foot buffer for wetlands and 100 year flood zones; remove wetlands and flood plains from calculations in zoning and permitting, and prohibit construction in wetlands and flood plains. Morsillo said the matter was not well thought through and highlighted several things that would be stymied if this was ordained (no pool at Forest River, no upgrades to the Willows, homeowners in South Salem unable to build decks or sheds). She acknowledged the urgent need to protect wetlands (Ed note: I am pretty sure only the skulking monsters of Scooby Doo are keen to actively destroy wetlands.) and empathized with the pace of government, but also underscored that meaningful and effective legislation takes time, care and collaboration. Dominguez said he did not mean to be offensive but said he (and residents) have a right to bring any order forward for consideration. (Ed. note: Ideally, councilors will work with constituents to ensure that the matters brought forward are ready for prime-time, so to speak.) Dibble agreed with Morsillo and said the wording in the proposal could harm a lot of residents. He asked to amend the matter to invite SERC, the city solicitor and the conservation commission to the OLLA meeting. McCarthy noted (after the vote) that the invitations should be to “representatives” of the named committees, so as not to violate quorum rules. Sargent acknowledged that we don’t even have a good handle of where the wetlands and floodplains are because we have already done a lot of damage to this area and developed around and on the three main rivers. We should learn from past mistakes and take care with this going forward.
Another Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) ordinance was put forward to be part of the public hearing. Dibble was confused and took umbrage with the ability to create detached units. All of the ADU matters will be discussed and refined after the public hearing, which I hear is being considered for around mid-March.
Watch for a presentation from Salem Sound Coastwatch on the Greenway/Gateway. Coming soon to a PHSE meeting near you.
The $200K for Essex St. improvements that was sent to A&F after the last meeting was back and passed with only Dibble voting against. $890K was approved for a water main project on Highland Ave. This was noted as “long overdue” by Morsillo, who detailed the problems the main has caused for residents from the high school area to the Lynn line.
The council voted for first passage to ban amplification in the alley between city hall and Honey Dew donuts. Tours are okay to go through there, just not with amplification. Speaking of tours, the council voted to waive tour guide fees.
And the final matter, dear friends, was to approve the ELECTION CALENDAR!! Election season is now officially upon us! If you are thinking of running for office (and we do so encourage it!), you will have until 23 July to pull your nomination papers and 27 July to return them with the requisite signatures. We will of course keep you posted on all the impending deadlines.
Respectfully submitted,
Jen Lynch